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I’ve had a lot of fun at Tim Goeglein’s expense over the last few months. Mean-spirited fun, certainly, but my problem with him has always been one of personal taste. In his columns for The News-Sentinel, my old newspaper, he personifies a certain sort of apple-cheeked Hoosier drippiness, which undoubtedly masks a core of white-hot ambition. I mean, he worked at the right hand of Karl Rove, and remains in the White House. But while he works in the West Wing, he chooses to write awful, turgid essays on the wonders of Hoagy Carmichael, deceased operatic composers and his parents’ marriage. I know it’s unfair to expect policy analyses, but it’s maddening to think that here’s this guy, a home-towner, eyewitness to an epochal period in American history, and he gives us Odes to Summer. Why he chooses to do so for the failing paper in a two-newspaper town, one with a circulation that probably barely nudges 30,000 these days, remains a mystery. (I’ve heard theories: He does it for his mother, and He plans to run for office soon, and he’s raising his local profile. Don’t really care, anyway. He’s just fun to make fun of.

When William F. Buckley died this week, one of my first thoughts was that he’d been friends with Tim, and we would almost certainly have a long, overwrought, superlative-packed column coming down the pike soon, and we’d have ourselves a good time giggling over it. When I saw he had a piece in the paper Thursday, the day after Buckley died, I thought for a second the wait was over, then spotted the headline — Education: Ideas worth defending, honesty of reflective thought — and realized, no, this has been in the pipeline for a while.

Not that it was a total disappointment. I started to read, and a name jumped out at me — “Eugene Rosenstock-Hussey,” described as a “notable professor of philosophy at Dartmouth.” Now, I’m sure Tim’s spare brain space isn’t cluttered, as mine is, with “American Idol,” the internet and what’s-for-dinner concerns. Certainly string quartets waft through his paneled study, where he reads and thinks under the mounted ibex head, far from the vulgar buzz of pop culture. Surely he can acquaint himself with notable professors of philosophy at Dartmouth while I watch the Oscars. But this name was so goofy, just for the hell of it, I Googled it. And look what I found.

Tim:

A notable professor of philosophy at Dartmouth College in the last century, Eugene Rosenstock-Hussey, expressed the matter succinctly. His wisdom is not only profound but also worth pondering in this new century. He said, “The goal of education is to form the Citizen. And the Citizen is a person who, if need be, can re-found his civilization.”

He meant that, I think, in quite a large sense. He did not mean that you had to master all the specialties you can think of, but rather to be an educated man or woman, you needed to be familiar with the large and indispensable components of our civilization.

This does not mean you should not study other cultures and civilizations. It does mean that to be a citizen of this one, you should be aware of what it is and where it — we — came from. It can hardly be challenged that the United States of America is part of the narrative of European history.

A notable Professor of Philosophy at Dartmouth, Eugene Rosenstock-Hussey often expressed the matter succinctly, “The goal of education,” he would say, “is to form the Citizen. And the Citizen is a person who, if need be, can re-found his civilization.”

He meant that in quite large a sense. He did not mean that you had to master all the specialties you can think of.

He meant that you need to be familiar with the large and indispensable components of your — this — civilization.

This certainly does not mean that you should not study other cultures and civilizations. It does mean that to be a Citizen of this one you should be aware of what it is and where it came from.

It can scarcely be challenged that the United States is part of the narrative of European history.

My, my, my. Tim Goeglein, director of the White House office of public liaison, is a plagiarist.

Not an accidental or delicate one, either. The piece (Tim’s) goes on:

It can hardly be challenged that the United States of America is part of the narrative of European history. Europe is overwhelmingly the source, and some parts of Europe more than others: Our language, literature, legal tradition, political arrangements derive, demonstrably, from England. This Britain-America connection is central.

There have been many ways of answering the question: What is Europe? A handy way to think of the matter is the paradigm of “Athens” and “Jerusalem.” In this paradigm, those terms designate both the two cities we have all heard of but also two kinds of mind. The tradition designated “Athens” is associated with philosophy and with critical exercise of mind, with reason. The tradition associated with “Jerusalem” is associated with monotheism, with faith.

Hart:

It can scarcely be challenged that the United States is part of the narrative of European history. It owes little or nothing to Confucius or Laotse or to Chief Shaka or to the Aztecs. At the margin it owes a bit to the American Indians, but not a great deal — corn, tobacco, some legendary material. But Europe is overwhelmingly the source. And some parts of Europe more than others: Our language, legal tradition, political arrangements derive, and demonstrably so, from England.

There have been many ways of answering the question, “What is Europe?” But a handy way to think of the matter is the paradigm of “Athens” and “Jerusalem.” In this paradigm, those terms designate both the two cities we have all heard of, and also two kinds of mind.

The tradition designated “Athens” is associated with philosophy and with critical exercise of mind. The tradition associated with “Jerusalem” is associated with monotheism.

Note that Tim leaves out the gratuitous swipe at non-European cultures. Well, the original was written a few years ago, and times have changed. But other than a word here and there — Hart likes “scarcely,” while Tim goes for “hardly” — these two great minds think alike. A lot alike:

On the side of Athens, you would want to learn something about Homer, who in many ways laid the basis of Greek philosophy, and you would need to meet Plato, Aristotle, Socrates — the three greatest Greek philosophers — as well as the Greek dramatists, historians, architects and sculptors.

Over in Jerusalem, you would find the epic account of the career of monotheism as it worked its way out in history. The scriptures, like Homer, have their epic heroes — Moses most dramatically — and like the Greek tradition in some ways, they refine and internalize the epic virtues. Athens and Jerusalem, reason and faith, interact, and much flows from this interaction that results in the fullest expression of the educated man and woman.

The intellectually exciting thing is that with Athens and Jerusalem as the foundations, you would follow all of this down through the centuries, through Virgil (the great Roman poet), Augustine, Dante (who is perhaps the greatest poet of Western culture), Shakespeare (who is probably our greatest playwright), Cervantes, Montaigne, Moliere, Voltaire, Goethe and on to modernity. “The best that has been thought and said,” as Matthew Arnold called it. The mind of Europe as T.S. Eliot put it, “from Homer to the present.”

That was Tim. This is Hart:

On the side of “Athens” you will want to learn something about Homer, who in many ways laid the basis of Greek philosophy, and you will need to meet Plato, Aristotle, the Greek dramatists, historians, architects and sculptors.

Over in “Jerusalem” you will find the epic account of the career of monotheism as it worked its way out in history. The scriptures like Homer, have their epic heroes, and, like the Greek tradition in some ways they refine and internalize the epic virtues. “Athens” and “Jerusalem” interact and much flows from the interaction.

You will follow all of this down through the centuries, through Virgil and Augustine, and Dante, in Shakespeare, Cervantes, and Montaigne, Moliere, Voltaire, Goethe and on to modernity. “The best that has been thought and said, “ as Matthew Arnold called it. The mind of Europe as T.S. Eliot put it, “from Homer to the present.”

Interestingly, Jeffrey Hart himself is quite the character, another aide to a president (Nixon, Reagan), a spiritual and intellectual brother to Tim. As for the Dartmouth Review, well, most people know the story of one of the first high-profile right-wing student publications, that gave an early-career boost to Dinesh D’Souza and Laura Ingraham, among others. (Tim went to Indiana University.) All accounts paint a picture of a dedicated academic who, you’d think, would frown on one of academia’s most serious sins. I look forward to hearing his reaction, if any.

I mentioned at the top of this post that I feel bad about what I’m going to do here. (I stole that line, by the way; it’s Nora Ephron’s opening for her devastating profile of Dorothy Schiff’s New York Post. Now that I’ve given credit, it’s not plagiarism, it’s an homage. See how it works?) I feel bad because my old buddy Leo Morris, who edits the op-ed pages, is going to bear the brunt of this — the investigation, the uncomfortable announcement to readers, the search through the archives for more time bombs, the embarrassment of being took by someone any editor would trust, a self-styled intellectual and senior White House aide, for crying out loud. But either this stuff is important or it isn’t, and I say it is.

UPDATE: Thanks to the Kenosha Kid, in comments, who finds more evidence of unattributed sourcing, in the Hoagy Carmichael essay linked above. The rifled pockets were those of Jonathan Yardley in the Washington Post. Way to pick an obscure source, Tim.

UPDATE 2: Since we’re getting some outside linkage today, a word about comments: I have mine set for “first-timers go to moderation,” and after that, you’re in. So if you’re a newbie, feel free to comment, but if it doesn’t appear right away, don’t keep trying. I’ll stay close to my computer today, but I have to run a few errands today, too, and will be out.

UPDATE 4 (and it’s hardly noon yet): Thanks to commenters Adam Stanhope and Grytpype Thynne, who did the work on the operatic composers piece, down in the comments. (Click here to go there directly.) I am reminded of a recent scene from “The Wire”: “You think the first time he gets caught is the first time he does it?” Apparently not.

UPDATE 6: OK, this is funny, the News-Sentinel’s response. The subhed should be, “Nall? Never heard of her.” Oh, and keep following our bird dogs, Adam Stanhope and Grytpype Thynne, in the comments. I can’t keep up any more and I have to step out for half an hour.

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571 responses to “Copycat.”

Kirk said on February 29, 2008 at 8:18 am

One nail in each hand, one in his head and one in his feet. Excellent work, Nancy. Reminds me of when a then-OU student (not you that time), now managing editor, threw the switch on a Sunday magazine writer.

And you’re damned right. It is important.

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basset said on February 29, 2008 at 8:29 am

It is indeed. Gonna be fun to watch this play out.

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brian stouder said on February 29, 2008 at 8:36 am

Sort of dovetails with the To Catch a Self Abuser post…

Given the Bush admin connection, this could well become a minor national story, maybe even a ‘Worse (or Worser, or Worst) Person in the World turn on Olbermann!

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nancy said on February 29, 2008 at 8:39 am

In the Department of Small Worlds, I couldn’t help but note that the original essay, Hart’s, opens with an anecdote that takes a backhanded swipe at the then-president of Brown University, Vartan Gregorian. Who also happens to be the father of one of my fellow j-fellows, Vahé Gregorian, a sportswriter for the St. Louis P-D. The elder Gregorian, now the president of the Carnegie Corp., was one of our speakers that year, and while Hart describes him as “almost supernaturally charming,” that doesn’t even begin to cover it. Hart took him to task for failing to support an Athens/Jerusalem core curriculum at Brown. All I can say is, if Vartan thinks an all-elective curriculum works, I’ll trust him.

(Supernaturally charming story: After the seminar, I shook his hand and he said, “What intelligent questions you asked! Why aren’t you working for the New York Times?” Ha.)

Mother. Fucking. Templeton. (My homage to ashley)
Brian’s right. Get this to Olbermann for Worst Person in the World.

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michaela said on February 29, 2008 at 8:53 am

Whenever I’ve caught a plagiarist at work (and I think my grand total is two), it’s because of that same nagging curiosity that led you to Google the oddly named prof. It always gives me the heebie-jeebies, though, because how many times have I felt that little twinge of something not quite right and dismissed it out of hand?

This is really bizarre, and yet it isn’t, because if college students who flippin’ *live* on-line don’t get it, why would this loon?

But wouldn’t you think a guy with his job and involvements understand in his bones that a pajama-clad blogger can casually Google-check stuff like this, and it just falls off the screen and into your lap? What level of willful stupidity does it take? (Hint — one of the top levels, heavy on the willfulness.)

I sure know the anxiety of the deferred deadline and the sense of dryness groping for the start of the next paragraph, but even if i didn’t have RUDIMENTARY ethics, this middle-aged scribbler who still doesn’t own a digital camera and hates his cell phone knows that PLAGIARISM is not only theft, it’s easier to catch than theft, and my aversion to jail food (i’ve eaten a lot of it actually, but as a pastoral visitor who gets to leave when he wants) and the contempt of my peers would/has/will always keep me from even being tempted.

And Goeglein apparently not only has no ethics, he has no real sense of what the technology is capable of, or a peer group whose approval matters to him.

Nancy, very good work. I’ll say i had a vague sense of ventriloquism about his stuff, but i’ve only read what i see linked on your site, and had just put it down to a fairly limited mind aping his betters. Turns out i should have thought like he was a freshman, and then i might have had the grim satisfaction of pointing this one out to you myself.

Good news, Alex — he will never represent you in Congress! But i wouldn’t bet against him a few years from now running for the Indiana House, or Allen County recorder or something chastening like that.

I see Tim Goeglein is just a “red letter” text entry within Macedonian Americans at Wikipedia — time for an article on the fellow, anyone? (Yeah, yeah, but i gotta get to work now. Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?)

I say this as a former Bush administration speechwriter: Anything that cuts down the number of dishonest morons in DC, regardless of the party to which the morons are attached, is a good thing.

Congrats on following those instincts and I hope the consequences of this follow Tim across the Potomac. There are too many hard working writers and thinkers of right and left in DC, many of whom struggle to find a place in politics, think tanks and the media, to have this kid taking up space.

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alex said on February 29, 2008 at 10:23 am

It’s up on Romenesko.

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Kirk said on February 29, 2008 at 10:28 am

I didn’t realize he was such a punk. Had always thought from previous references that he was an old fart. He looks the part of a typical sucky-butt, eager-beaver frat-rat dork who’d think nothing of plagiarizing.

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Kim said on February 29, 2008 at 10:29 am

Well done, Nancy. The sad thing, people, is that anybody who thought this guy’s writing was a tad hinky could have done the same thing. I mean, google’s not just for checking out would-be suitors.

When the folks in TG’s corner start whining about liberals, blah blah, I hope everybody reminds ’em who did what to whom.

I wonder where he’ll go for rehab.

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Peter said on February 29, 2008 at 10:31 am

While I hope there will be the appropriate smackdown, I’m afraid you guys are just getting set up for a fall.

This schmuck works for a guy who doesn’t care that he’s drained the treasury and sent thousands of soldiers to their death. The same one who threw people under the bus (Valerie Plame) for shits and giggles. What’s copying obscure sources compared to that?

If Mr. Morals had any to begin with, he wouldn’t have done it, but then that fact’s been established a long time ago.

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Dorothy said on February 29, 2008 at 10:33 am

I bow before Nancy’s unbelievable talents. This is truly amazing to watch it unfold! Props to Nance.

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brian stouder said on February 29, 2008 at 10:42 am

OK – 2 liters of icy cold Diet Coke says that TG will eventually offer up some lame excuse, such as “Shoot! I Forgot the footnote!” or “Dang! Did I forget to say that the article was a homage?”…or if he’s really daring – “Great Balls of Fire!! I have been SET UP!! My deputy administrative assistant was tasked with the final edit of the piece”

But one card he canNOT play is “That Gol-durned liberal media is out to get me!”, ’cause my family and I have subscribed to the N-S for years, and read it, and it has been a close friend of ours…..and, folks, it’s NOT the ‘liberal media’!

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Mnemosyne said on February 29, 2008 at 10:44 am

This schmuck works for a guy who doesn’t care that he’s drained the treasury and sent thousands of soldiers to their death. The same one who threw people under the bus (Valerie Plame) for shits and giggles. What’s copying obscure sources compared to that?

I don’t think anyone’s expecting that he’s going to get fired from his job with the Bush administration, but he’ll probably lose his newspaper column and his hopes of running for state office. The Bushies might not care that he’s a plagiarist, but voters sure would.

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Danny said on February 29, 2008 at 10:45 am

I say this as a former Bush administration speechwriter: Anything that cuts down the number of dishonest morons in DC, regardless of the party to which the morons are attached, is a good thing.

Well said, David. Of course, the problem is that many folks are so blindly partisan that it only cuts one way for them. Me, I say get as many of the crooks and cheats out too. I don’t care if it is my own ox getting gored.

Nope, he will certainly lose his Old Executive Office Building restroom key, parking permit, and White House Mess privileges for this one. Point taken on scale re: Iraq and other issues, but this is a job (Office of Public Liaison) where he can’t blot his copybook in such a fashion and keep his post.

Sadly, they may not fire him, but he will “leave to pursue other opportunties” before March decides on ending leonine-ically or sheepishly.

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Chemnitz said on February 29, 2008 at 11:07 am

Curiously, I searched your blog for references to “Obama plagiarism” and got these results: “No posts found.” I guess it’s only interesting if it’s a conservative…

Damn, that’s just … blatant. It’s one thing to unconciously echo a phrase here or there, but to pull whole grafs?

Ouch.

Oh, and Chemnitz, that’s the cheapest defense. “You didn’t write about this when so-and-so did it, so therefore this doesn’t matter!” Either the SENIOR WHITE HOUSE AIDE ripped somebody off or he didn’t. Most of us outgrow the “but Billy did it FIRST!” dodge by the time we hit typing age.

A.

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cornbread said on February 29, 2008 at 11:17 am

just saw this:

“Tim Goeglein, former Fort Wayne resident and now a special assistant to President George Bush, has been accused of plagiarism over a guest column about education that we carried on our editorial page on Thursday. While we look into the matter, we have taken the column down from our Web site. We are also checking out previous guest columns of Mr. Goeglien’s that we published. We will promptly report what we find.”

I’ve been plagiarized a few times, and it made me very angry every time.

When you’re a professional writer, the only things you can offer of value are your words. When someone takes those from you, it’s plain and simple theft.

There are cases where people accidentally lift a phrase or two. I’ve caught myself doing it at least once, and I was embarrassed. (Especially since the writer I borrowed from was a hero of mine.)

But lifting entire passages of hundreds of words is larceny.

It’s bad enough that publishers expect us to write for free. It’s insulting when other people take our words without so much as “thank you.”

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Kirk said on February 29, 2008 at 11:20 am

It’s the American way for little chicken turds like him to slink away and wind up with a more obscure corporate or government post raking in a few hundred thousand a year for very little work, but at least he’s been outed and the whole episode has brightened my long, busy Friday.

curiously, i searched your blog for references to “janet cooke made up story pulitzer prize” and got these results: “No posts found.” I guess you don’t write about what I want you to write about and you have not exhaustively covered this subject to my satisfaction–therefore either a) you are pure evil or b) i’m a total conservative idiot.

probably the latter.

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Chemnitz said on February 29, 2008 at 11:26 am

Just trying to point out that if you don’t like it from Goeglein, I would think you’d hate it from Obama. Clearly, Obama’s speeches in campaigning for president are more significant than an essay for a Fort Wayne newspaper. Wake up to your hypocrisy.

How ironic is it that he plagiarized an article about education? Kinda like the teachers who send home letters filled with spelling and grammar errors.

He’ll keep his job because all the other rats have deserted the sinking ship and Bush needs some friends around.

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Sue said on February 29, 2008 at 11:33 am

Aw, come on Chemnitz. This isn’t a political blog. If it were, you wouldn’t see such a variety of people posting. Nancy points out idiocy where she finds it and this is a real coup.

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brian stouder said on February 29, 2008 at 11:36 am

From Natalie’s great link

“It is true,” Tim Goeglein wrote to The Journal Gazette in an email. “I am entirely at fault. It was wrong of me. There are no excuses.”

Wow! He manned up!

And now, he has to copy/paste his “It is true” statement, for Jonathon Yardley, and whatever other examples emerge….but he’s good at that!

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bergman said on February 29, 2008 at 11:40 am

To our readers:

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Considering A Career Change? Go Where The Jobs Are
Now on the paper’s website’s front page:

Tim Goeglein, former Fort Wayne resident and now a special assistant to President George Bush, has been accused of plagiarism over a guest column about education that we carried on our editorial page on Thursday. While we look into the matter, we have taken the column down from our Web site. We are also checking out previous guest columns of Mr. Goeglein’s that we published. We will promptly report what we find.

The Hoagy Carmichael story was plagiarized too? Wow.
And Chemnitz . . . shame on you.

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alex said on February 29, 2008 at 11:44 am

Chemnitz, if Obama were truly guilty of plagiarism, then so would be Ronald Reagan (a/k/a Peggy Noonan). As Obama responded during his last debate with the Ice Queen, his national campaign co-chair gave him those words to use. If you believe this is plagiarism then surely you believe he’s an Islamofascist in disguise because his middle name’s Hussein. Just put a cork in it already, beeyotch.

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DB said on February 29, 2008 at 11:51 am

God, Chemnitz, talk about your double standard.

Obama uses words that *he has properly attributed in the past*, words that the original author told him to use as his own, and that’s “plagiarism”.

No. it’s not.

This WH turd used words that the authors were unaware were being used, changed a few, and passed them off as his own.

Now, *that’s* plagiarism.

I realize many GOoPers suffer from cranio-anal impaction, but it shouldn’t be too hard a job to figure out what’s stealing and what’s not.

Chemnitz, i searched your blog for references to . . . wait, you don’t show a blog. Speaking as a life-long registered Republican, “It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles [or blogmistress – ed.] or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man [or blogger – ed.] who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

GOEGLEIN:
Menotti’s operas – there are 25 – achieved a high degree of popularity, for which he was punished with condescension. He was deemed too old-fashioned. In fact, in 1971, Menotti wrote a letter to the New York Times in which he said, “I hardly know of another artist who has been more consistently damned by critics … The insults that most of my operas had to endure through the years.”

REILLY:
Menotti’s operas (there are 25) achieved a high degree of popularity, for which he was punished, typically, with the aforementioned condescension. He was deemed too
“old-fashioned.” In 1971, Menotti wrote a letter to the New York Times in which he said, “I hardly know of another artist who has been more consistently damned by the critics. . . . The insults that most of my operas had to endure through the years would make a booklet as terrifying as Malleus Maleficarum [The Witches’ Hammer, a medieval guidebook for prosecuting sorcery cases].”

GOEGLEIN:
Despite the criticism, he never surrendered the role of beauty. We can now hear one of his strongest expressions of it in his masterpiece, Missa: O Pulchritudo, released on a recording for the first time earlier this year.

REILLY:
Despite criticism, Menotti never surrendered the role of beauty. We can now hear one of his strongest expressions of it in the appropriately named Missa: O Pulchritudo.

GOEGLEIN:
My first reaction upon hearing it was: What kind of cultural prejudice kept this remarkable piece on ice for 25 years? This may be the most beautiful music Menotti composed. Beauty is actually its theme…

REILLY:
My first reaction was: What kind of cultural prejudice kept this recording on ice for 25 years? This may be the most beautiful thing Menotti wrote. Beauty is its theme.

[This part is intellectually disgusting:

GOEGLEIN:
Menotti once said, “I have to face Him [God] one of these days, and we have little discussions, private discussions … I’m trying to get an answer from God,” which in my mind raised a rhetorical question, namely that maybe God has asked him a question and He is the one waiting for an answer. Music has a way of answering questions without words, and the answers are in Menotti’s music. What shines through is Menotti’s faith-longing. Another great composer, Anton Bruckner, said of his magnificent Te Deum: “When God finally calls me and asks ‘What have you done with the talent I gave you, my lad?’ I will present to Him the score of my Te Deum, and I hope He will judge me mercifully.”

REILLY:
During our visit in 2001, I read to Menotti his own words: “I have to face Him [God] one of these days, and we have little discussions, private discussions. . . . I’m trying to get an answer from God.” I suggested to him that “maybe God has asked you a question, and He’s the one waiting for an answer.” Menotti replied, “Yes, I know. He has asked me a few questions. That’s the trouble, that’s the dialogue, because I don’t know what to answer.” The answers are in Menotti’s music, and nowhere is that answer stronger than in the Missa: O Pulchritudo. What shines through is not Menotti’s unbelief but his belief. Anton Bruckner said of his magnificent Te Deum: “When God finally calls me and asks ‘What have you done with the talent I gave you, my lad?’, I will present to Him the score of my Te Deum and I hope He will judge me mercifully.”

GOEGLEIN:
One hopes and prays that Menotti gained a similar reception, though he seems to have had a modest understanding of himself. He once said, “I do not know my own worth – I’m not Bach, but I like to think I’m not Offenbach either!” Very clever, very humbling. Indeed, Offenbach could not have written a Mass like Menotti’s. Beauty wins out in the end; excellence lasts. Why? Because God is beautiful, and he embodies an excellence and radiance pre-eminent that brings a glimpse of the eternal into our temporal lives.

REILLY:
One hopes and prays that Menotti gained a similar reception. Menotti had a modest understanding of himself. In 1998 he said, “I do know my own worth—I’m not Bach, but I like to think I’m not Offenbach either!” Indeed, Offenbach could not have written a Mass like this. It must have been a source of great satisfaction to Menotti at the very end of his long life to know that this recording was finally being released. Beauty wins out in the end—because God is Beauty.

GOEGLEIN:
Menotti once told a friend of mine, “I say, at least in music, that beauty is a search for the inevitable, that great music is music that can only be that way and no other way. And only God can give you the inevitable.” This rings in one’s ears of angel bells, so powerful and lovely is its evocation of the roots of great music.

REILLY:
In his interview for crisis, we spoke of the Catholic Faith, with which he had struggled, and his mission as a composer. He remarked, “I say, at least in music, that beauty is a search for the inevitable, that great music is music that can only be that way and no other way. And only God can give you the inevitable.”

[I suppose we can conclude from reading this last pairing that Goeglein ripped off his *friend*?]

I started plugging in names from the article and Googling, adding one name at a time until the Crisis article emerged at the top of the results.

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Adam Stanhope said on February 29, 2008 at 12:18 pm

Another tip for looking for plagiarism:

Oftentimes the hardest part of writing an essay or article or even a blog post is the closing. You’ve laid out the facts and you need to summarize it without sounding dumb. When my daughter was in sixth grade she’d end all of her essays with a sentence starting with “All in all…” as in:

“All in all, time and again, the world proves to us that plagiarism doesn’t pay.”

The closing paragraph(s) of a given article are often the ones that have been plagiarized. If you suspect plagiarism, this is a good place to look.

All in all.

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MonkeyBoy said on February 29, 2008 at 12:20 pm

I thought the column had been taken down. I guess that means that it is no longer linked to the from the editorial page, not that it has been removed.

February 29th, 2008 at 11:26 amJust trying to point out that if you don’t like it from Goeglein, I would think you’d hate it from Obama. Clearly, Obama’s speeches in campaigning for president are more significant than an essay for a Fort Wayne newspaper. Wake up to your hypocrisy.

Man, I hurt too much from laughing. Poor little Chemny all in a lather because one of his (lying, dishonest) peeps got utterly outed as a creature of low character.

HAYWARD:
Let’s start with greatness as an abstract idea. How is it defined? Aristotle said that political greatness is the ability to translate wisdom into action on behalf of the public good. In order to do this, Aristotle said, you must have a combination of moral virtue, practical wisdom and public spiritedness.

In simple terms, it is hard enough to know what is good for our own selves, but to be a statesman, you must know what is good for everyone. Aristotle adds that intelligence is not enough; the practical wisdom of a statesman is not something that can be mastered through standardized training.

GOEGLEIN:
The philosopher Aristotle said greatness is the ability to translate wisdom into action on behalf of the public good. In order to do this, you must have a combination of moral virtue, practical wisdom and public spiritedness. In the simplest of terms, it is difficult enough to know what is good for ourselves, but the truly great men and women among us have a deeper sense of what is good for the larger public. Intelligence, Aristotle reminded his charges, is not enough, because practical wisdom is not something that can be mastered through standardized training.

HAYWARD:
If you break it down, there are a few things that a great statesman must possess. First, a great statesman has a central idea. Second, they have a strong element of democratic responsibility. Third, and perhaps most importantly, the greatest of statesmen has an extraordinary independence of mind and of imagination. They are very unconventional thinkers. Often, much of their unconventional thinking comes from being, in certain respects, self-educated.

GOEGLEIN:
I think the truly great men and women have a central idea that motivates their lives. They also have a strong element of what I might call democratic responsibility. They think largely of other people in remarkably free and equal terms regardless of wealth, status, power or education. Perhaps most importantly, the greatest among us have the gift of an extraordinary independence of mind and of imagination. They are unconventional thinkers who see beyond their time to the larger good. This is a rare gift indeed, and it is, in part, what makes true greatness so rare.

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moe99 said on February 29, 2008 at 12:22 pm

As a former resident of Defiance OH, who looks back fondly and at times w/ horror at that part of the US (and for whom, growing up, Fort Wayne was THE BIG CITY), mad props to you, Nancy for this journalistic coup! This made my day.

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Grytpype Thynne said on February 29, 2008 at 12:22 pm

“You snooze, you lose, Grytpype! hehe

It really was too easy.

How did you go about it?”

My technique is to search for quotations, particularly those where Geoglein “once heard so and so say…” or “so and so once said to a friend of mine…”, though this last one I caught throught the Aristotle paraphrase

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Grytpype Thynne said on February 29, 2008 at 12:23 pm

“You snooze, you lose, Grytpype! hehe”

Also, be nice – I wasn’t snoozing, I was copying and pasting!!!!

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beb said on February 29, 2008 at 12:23 pm

Wow, Your story has been linked by both Atios and TalkingPointsMemo! And God knows who else.

The weird thing about this, it doesn’t sound like he had a regular deadline to hit. He could have just skipped writing that week instead of stealing from others. So this was not a crime of desperation but a crime of arrogence. It must be something in the Bush White House that does that to people.

Remember that guy in the White House who was caught in a complicated shoplifting scheme by abusing a store’s returns policy? He didn’t need the money. It was like, he could do it so he did.

Hello. I’m a retired professor, progressive and sometime plagiarism sleuth. Im stumped at this time by a passage I’m sure is plagiarized. I’ve run distinctive parts through concatenation in Google, and FYI, free palgiarism checkers on the internet listed in http://www.copywighting911.com/check-your-content/ I’d appreciate learning by e-mail if you have any other means of detection. Thanks

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Mad Librarian said on February 29, 2008 at 12:35 pm

Wow! What a metaphor for the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of the entire “conservative” movement, too!

At least William F. Buckley actually wrote his own sonorous, sesquipedalian hogwash.

And you gotta think, well, if six or seven, then probably . . . well, wonder if any of his college profs are thumbing through their big grey file cabinets right now. I’d give a nickle to see the resume he submitted to Karl (ha, Karl just called and said “I’m gonna change yer life, boy” and never looked at his resume — you bet?), which will doubtless have the most creative writing the fellow’s ever done, apparently.

Let me come up with an original sentiment here: I’m shocked, shocked! to discover that a White House aide is a thief.

BTW, this editing tool is the cat’s pajamas!

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cavjam said on February 29, 2008 at 12:41 pm

To steal someone’s ideas absent attribution is, of course, intellectual dishonesty of the basest order. To not even bother to rewrite those ideas in one’s own words is laziness at which a sloth would scoff. To ignore the probability that one might get caught displays the cerebral activity of the dead.

The above commenter who suggested that Mr. Obama’s use of another’s words – words which, as rightly noted, had been previously acknowledged as another’s – somehow constitutes equivalence inhabits the circle of uninformed and/or mendacious swine unfortunately far too large for the preservation of an enlightened republic.

You are aware that from time to time, good liberals have copied the work of others, are you not? Heard of Dorris Kearns Goodwin, perhaps?

Plagiarism by a single doofus only tells us something about the character of the person who did it, not any groups to which he belongs. It makes no more sense to attribute his plagiarism to his political beliefs than it does to attribute his acts to a Lutheran upbringing or, for that matter, his Indiana roots.

@David Mastio – DKG is a liberal? Who knew. And the point is that “conservatives” and religious nutjobs far more satisfying targets. David Vitter steps to the Senate floor fresh from banging a hooker to tell me that marriage is the most important institution EVAR. Ted Haggard says gays are bad then runs off to schtup (sp?) a male escort. And this clown handles religious affairs for a moral scold who’s responsible for hundreds of thousands of needless deaths. Pardon my delight in their destruction.

When “The Big Trail” failed at the box office, Wayne spent the better part of a decade playing cowboys of the nuance-free variety in cheap B-Westerns. What came next, though, was a revolution in his life and in the life of American film. It took the director John Ford to finely etch Wayne’s cowboy persona with scratches and cracks, allowing to emerge a tantalizing glimpse of the angry, hurt and unloved actor within. Ford and Wayne, one of the most famous director/actor teams in all of Hollywood history, was born, and they made not only more than two dozen films together but also Hollywood movie history.

When “The Big Trail” failed at the box office, Wayne spent the better part of a decade playing cowboys of the nuance-free variety in cheap B-Westerns. It took director John Ford to finely etch Wayne’s cowboy persona with scratches and cracks that allowed tantalizing glimpses of the angry, hurt, and unloved “Marion” within. Appropriately, the bulk of the MoMA retrospective is drawn from the nearly two-dozen films that Ford and Wayne made together.

And that’s not all, pretty much the whole Goeglein piece is a hash of the Bruce Bennett piece.

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Kirk said on February 29, 2008 at 1:14 pm

I’m guessing that the Goegler plays golf for $100 a hole and kicks his ball out of the rough when the other guys aren’t looking.

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Grytpype Thynne said on February 29, 2008 at 1:28 pm

earthandstaples: see 12:11pm (I was lazy)

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Mad Librarian said on February 29, 2008 at 1:31 pm

Mastio,

What blogenfreude and Grytpype Thynne said.

I would never deny that liberals could be guilty of the same offense (obviously!). But your example is kind of weird (Doris Kearns Goodwin is a member of the beltway Kewl Kidz in good standing, IMO, and not what I’d call a liberal, merely a token [not-obviously-a-barking-mad-wingnut-so-‘liberal’-by-default], in other words).

The point I was trying to make is that hypocrisy, intellectual bankruptcy, and moral depravity are the defining characteristics of Movement Wingnuttism, not merely occasional lapses. It’s a feature, not a bug! A few countervailing examples (even if more apt than yours) do not disprove this observation.

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Danny said on February 29, 2008 at 1:37 pm

Nance, you probably already know this, but us regulars are very proud of you.

If being an aide to LBJ doesn’t qualify you for admission to “The Liberal Club,” i can’t imagine what the password is. The point being not about Kearns Goodwin, but that this is an equal opportunity problem, one that survives in people counting on the rest of us to be too lazy to bird-dog their thefts deep into the swamps. (Except the internet has filled the swamp with GPS and trail signage that wasn’t there ten years ago.)

And their assumptions about our lassitude and indifference usually hold true, making moments like this worth jumping on headlong, feet-first. Don’t EVEN get me started on clergy and sermons . . .

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Dorothy said on February 29, 2008 at 1:44 pm

Danny took the words right out of my mouth. But that’s not plagiarism, I swear.

Love you lots today Nancy!!

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Mad Librarian said on February 29, 2008 at 1:47 pm

It’s interesting to me, too, how in nearly every instance the small emendations Goeglein makes (why did he bother, I wonder?) end up making the text less interesting and eloquent.

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Laura said on February 29, 2008 at 1:48 pm

Nancy, you are my hero. The end.

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Connie said on February 29, 2008 at 1:49 pm

Oh my Nancy, you are everywhere. You are almost having an instalanche!

“We remain the country of John Winthrop and Ralph Waldo Emerson, a cumulative portrait of faith and reason, but not faith without reason or reason without faith. America is the place where we begin anew and an arena in which each individual should ennoble and serve the whole.”

“We have been, and remain, the country of John Winthrop and Ralph Waldo Emerson. The author succeeds in creating what he calls a ‘cumulative portrait of America as a place to begin anew, [and] an arena in which each individual should ennoble and serve the whole.'”

Note the internal quotation marks. TG lifts from both the reviewer and the author of the work being reviewed. How efficient.

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Danny said on February 29, 2008 at 1:51 pm

Very cool, Kirk and Dorothy.

And I really like how you put that, Jeff. I was going to say something along the lines of:

The point I was trying to make is that hypocrisy, intellectual bankruptcy, and moral depravity are the defining characteristics of Movement Wingnuttism, not merely occasional lapses.

There certainly are a lot of phonies in the conservative ranks. But Mad Librarian and you other johnny-come-todays, you should take a deep breath, get a grip on yourselves. And reality. That is all.

“that one can legitimately see design in the chaos, and recognize and know personally Providence behind the mask of history; best, that God may undeniably be known to live in the experience of being human.”

Goglein, A Sense of the Sacred, Poetry Magazine, April 1, 2005

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earthandstaplesthat said on February 29, 2008 at 2:00 pm

Grytpype Thynne deserves all the credit for the NYSun/Bennett catch!

(Sorry, I missed your link and got all excited when I Goegleined the Bennett piece. Hey, everyone wants to play now.)

Oh my, they keep on coming. I wonder what rock he’s crawling under even as we ‘speak’.

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Mad Librarian said on February 29, 2008 at 2:06 pm

Jeff,

See my response to David Mastio, above. Sure, it’s an “equal opportunity” problem. But I was remarking on how it seems endemic to the party of G.W. Bush, not an occasional contained outbreak. Think Ben Dommenech, think Jeff Gannon, etc., etc., ad ininitum, ad nauseam. And gay-bashing closet cases, militaristic draft-dodgers, Constitution-shredding “freedom-spreaders”, murdering right-to-lifers, welfare-hating Scaife Foundation lampreys, undsoweiter… You name it, there’s a hypocrite doing it in the modern Republican Party.

As for Goodwin, that was a long damn time ago, and these days she chiefly serves as a Colmesesque foil for the reactionary loons, so they can say, “even ‘libruls’ like Doris Kearns Goodwin think we should nuke Tehran…”, as well as providing irrelevant cutesy anecdotes about what was in Richard Nixon’s sock drawer. So give me a fucking break about her “liberalism”.

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Mad Librarian said on February 29, 2008 at 2:10 pm

There certainly are a lot of phonies in the conservative ranks. But Mad Librarian and you other johnny-come-todays, you should take a deep breath, get a grip on yourselves. And reality. That is all.

I didn’t know you had to be a regular to have a right to express an opinion here. I just discovered this site through Atrios today. I’ll desist now, so you won’t get your prissy panties in a wad, Danny Boy.

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Grytpype Thynne said on February 29, 2008 at 2:13 pm

What I love about this is that he was ripping off his “friends” on the Right:

The Dartmouth Review
The New York Sun
The National Review
Crisis

He doesn’t even go out of his comfort zone to plagiarize!

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bergman said on February 29, 2008 at 2:13 pm

There certainly are a lot of phonies in the conservative ranks. But Mad Librarian and you other johnny-come-todays, you should take a deep breath, get a grip on yourselves. And reality. That is all.

I didn’t know you had to be a regular to have a right to express an opinion here. I just discovered this site through Atrios today. I’ll desist now, so you won’t get your prissy panties in a wad, Danny Boy.
===
He’ll get over it. The water’s just a bit choppy in his pond today.

OK – I admit I stole that one. And you, of course, will know from where.

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Grytpype Thynne said on February 29, 2008 at 2:19 pm

“WaPo picks up the story»”

NOW you’re famous, Nancy!

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Dan M. said on February 29, 2008 at 2:25 pm

Congratulations, Nancy. Well caught, well written.

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Danny said on February 29, 2008 at 2:26 pm

Wow. “Panties in a wad” and whatever else you all want to say. I’m wounded. But please be gentle because if you hurt my last feeling, I will be invincible.

Listen, my point is not that I am upset about things being active and chippy on the blog today. To the contrary. I am very happy about that. And I don’t think any of the people who contribute here regularly feel any sense of rank or entitlement. It’s just that if you are new here and unfamiliar, you should know that you won’t get a pass if you make assinine comments. That’s just the way we roll here. Reality. Dig it.

And we all usually get along. Don’t hate me because I’m right.

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bergman said on February 29, 2008 at 2:26 pm

“The point that we are to respond both to creation and to God not after the manner of need but of true delight is a delicate one. It is bound up with the very idea that God is complete in Himself,”

“Timothy S. Goeglein, former Fort Wayne resident and now a special assistant to President George Bush, has been accused of plagiarism over a guest column about education The News-Sentinel published on our editorial page on Thursday.”

Or

Tim Goeglein, an assistant to the President and deputy director of the White House Office of Public Liaison

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brian stouder said on February 29, 2008 at 2:33 pm

I still like Madam Telling Tales (which she invented for a column or two, back in her old-media days, approximately a lifetime ago!)

or simply The Proprietress – which has a fuller, deeper meaning, given her scoop today

Sorry alex – I’m out of time myself. David Mastio, maybe we should all save ourselves some time and try to come up with a list of articles which this knucklehead DIDN’T plagiarize.

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Mad Librarian said on February 29, 2008 at 2:36 pm

…you should know that you won’t get a pass if you make assinine [sic]comments…

If I do make any, I should expect no less. But what is ‘asinine’ about pointing out the truth about the Cons? You just told me to, in effect “STFU, Newbie”, you didn’t refute my point or provide any evidence that “liberals do it, too” (and are therefore just as bad as the bastards who are fucking up our country, presumably).

Whose red woolen union suit is in a twist? We’re not flinging the f-bombs to make a simple point.

OK, fine — plagiarism is a unique problem endemic to the shallower waters of the conservative movement gene pool. Please note the lengthy roster of self-declared conservatives happy to say immediately and without qualification: he’s an idiot, an amoral wretch, and cast out he shall be from the West Wing and the cash bar of the next C-PAC event. You watch, he’s blown chunks across the WaPo (nice, nice work Nancy, from a purely journo perspective — get any into the WaPo when you were writing for ink and not pixels?). That gets you the door, pure and simple [cue wails about Rove’s many unindicted crimes].

I’m a mildly conservative clergy-person in highly liberal circles, denomination-wise, and i’d never say that liberals have cornered the market in unattributed verbatim rip-offs of sermons (including phrases like “my friend said” and “a woman i met on the sidewalk downtown” without cavil), but it is most assuredly an equal opportunity disease among preachers, which i could cite you up on the left ad nauseum. Conservatives just get shot, perhaps justifiably, by their wives (or get found in odd rubber suits, i hear).

Smite them all, hip and thigh, i say. (That last strophe on smiting was borrowed; i’ll let you Google for fun.)

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Grytpype Thynne said on February 29, 2008 at 2:40 pm

Danny – I actually think one ought to be a bit more reserved on entering a room full of strangers than when entering a room full of friends, so even if you were defending “regulars” I wouldn’t take it particularly amiss (as a “newbie” moonlighting from Atrios myself), so I should clarify that my last couple of posts directed at you were really just excuses to make references to Danny Boy and Londonderry Air.

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Julie Robinson said on February 29, 2008 at 2:40 pm

So who has called for interviews, Nance? NPR? ABC? CNN? Surely not Fox.

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alex said on February 29, 2008 at 2:41 pm

Don’t feel bad, Mad Lib. Danny takes swipes at me too. Regularly.

He’s actually a pretty decent dude regardless of his leanings. He just fights like a conservative, that’s all.

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Sue said on February 29, 2008 at 2:47 pm

Wade and Danny, did you see the Nancy Drew reference (virgotext, 10:54 a.m.)? Click on it and you will even see the cover artwork for, if I remember correctly, The Mystery of the Hidden (Lost?) Staircase. I am basking, just basking in Nancy’s reflected journalistic AND bad-child-lit glory. Also, the posters who are having a little trouble with attitudes on this site? Danny’s right. We’re like a bunch of bar friends at the beginning of the evening, and I think we’re careful to keep it that way. Let’s not turn it into a closing-time bar fight. This is the only blog I have ever encountered that doesn’t degenerate like that. (Takes another hit on her margarita, starts to cry.) …I mean, I love you guys, yaknow?

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nancy said on February 29, 2008 at 2:48 pm

So who has called for interviews, Nance?

So far? The News-Sentinel. I expect that’ll change if Tim resigns, but for now, the White House is merely “disappointed” in him (according to the AP).

Actually, my head is whirling right now. I need to write something about the whole experience, but it’ll take a day or two to figure out what.

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kerry said on February 29, 2008 at 2:53 pm

Hey, Nance — the plagiarism story just hit Drudge. Alas, no mention of the sleuth who uncovered it.

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Kafkaz said on February 29, 2008 at 2:54 pm

“Foretaste of heaven” is more along the lines of a commonplace, I would think, David.

As for the rest . . .

It’s thievery, pure and simple. There’s no fine distinction to make about it , no enlightening discussion about the nature of plagiarism vs. the nature of echoing and allusion for it to prompt, no fantastic opportunity to consider the art of oratory vs. the art of written rhetoric. It’s just stealing.

And it’s sad, unspeakably sad. I don’t really care about this guy’s political leanings. I just come at this sort of thing as a writer. The whole fun of writing comes in shaping an idea, exploring it, seeing where it leads, finding exactly the shades of meaning that you’re after, uttering something new, or zeroing in on something so common that it’s usually invisible, and finding a pointed, poetic, or otherwise memorable way to make it seen anew. It’s so wonderful to get lost in the writing, and then to tinker with the flow and diction and music of it. What fun to go zig zagging around in the warren of etymologies, or to discover where research might lead, or to select just the right bits to quote, paraphrase, and (for gosh sakes) cite and document so that others might follow your trail, see it entirely differently than you did, blaze new ones.

Such a joy to be a writer. Such a gift. A privilege, even.

It’s a major bummer that there are so many writers who apparently don’t get that at all.

Barring that, a lot of positive references to me: something like “intelligent muse” or “wind beneath wings,” but nothing toooo sappy, would do.

Mad Librarian, I saw no reason to have to “refute” or “provide evidence” about something so obvious. I mean, if a statement is made that plagarism and/or scandalous behavior is confined to and/or the defining characteristic of the conservative movement, it seems obvious that it is hyperbole. Without irony or humor.

Grytpype Thynne, no problem

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Jugomugo said on February 29, 2008 at 3:06 pm

Hey, you’ve made the Drudge Report as well!

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Mad Librarian said on February 29, 2008 at 3:06 pm

Jeff,
Being new here, I am unaware of the customary levels of decorum. I’m used to inhabiting the rougher purlieus of left blogistan, where “f-bombs” are flung with aplomb and wild abandon. I can make an argument without resorting to them, though. If I decide to become a regular here, I will certainly try to adapt my usage to the appropriate level.

OK, fine — plagiarism is a unique problem endemic to the shallower waters of the conservative movement gene pool.

I. Never. Said. That. Never said it was unique.

Please read what I actually wrote, instead of the straw argument that you think I wrote. Why do you and Danny keep misrepresenting what I said. Am I speaking Choctaw? Is it written in Devanagari?

Your politics prevent you from seeing it, I guess, but there is something very wrong, systemically wrong, irredemably sick and perverted and broken, with the modern Conservative Movement as incarnated in the present Republican party and exemplified by George W. Bush, the rotten head of the whole putrid fish. That is what I am saying. However, your mileage may vary, of course.

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Mad Librarian said on February 29, 2008 at 3:08 pm

…plagarism and/or scandalous behavior is confined to and/or the defining characteristic of the conservative movement…

Never. Said. That.

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Grytpype Thynne said on February 29, 2008 at 3:08 pm

Kafkaz, you sound like Joe Rogan bemoaning the plagiarist that is Carlos Mencia (nee Ned somethingorother), and I agree with both of you.

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Grytpype Thynne said on February 29, 2008 at 3:10 pm

“Hey, Nance — the plagiarism story just hit Drudge. Alas, no mention of the sleuth who uncovered it.”

Hey – this plagiarism thing is really catching on!

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Grytpype Thynne said on February 29, 2008 at 3:11 pm

“Never. Said. That.”

The straw Mad did, Mad.

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brian stouder said on February 29, 2008 at 3:11 pm

Actually, my head is whirling right now

This experience must be an exquisite cocktail (to continue the early ‘friends at a bar’ analogy, for this place); when you made the discovery, and KNEW you had something here – excitement! The genuine ‘juice’ of being a journalist…and then publishing it, and watching the story blaze across the internet and into the national news….and then – what?

The fellow – who is getting what he deserves, by the way – will always have the word ‘plagiarism’ associated with his name; certainly his $2000/week paycheck is gone, and getting another gig like that ain’t in the cards. And – sure, it’s not Ms Nall’s fault (at all), but it does temper the giddiness, a bit.

The best line in Clint Eastwood’s movie Unforgiven is when the kiddo is asking for reassurance from Clint, that the guys they just shot and killed “had it comin'” – and Clint says something like “We’ve all got it comin’, kid”

A story like this gives one pause.

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Tbogg said on February 29, 2008 at 3:13 pm

I was totally going to call him on this but I’ve been so busy on my turn-of-the-century whaling adventure, Moby Steve, that I never got to it.

Brilliant reporting, Nancy and all the rest of you. I’m very impressed.

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Danny said on February 29, 2008 at 3:20 pm

Mad Lib, I do agree that the conservative movement is sick. Just not irredemably so. As long as there are a few of us who are just as ardent and enthusiastic for the outing of the phonies within our own ranks, it’ll probably be okay.

As for my politics preventing me from seeing a truth. I dunno. I try to be realistic. I couldn’t have been happier when they finally caught my congressman taking bribes and he got his 8 year prison term. Slimeball, he was. And any of us here who identify as conservatives are pretty happy about Goeglein’s (eventual) demise.

Nance, wow, I was wondering if you were going to get mentioned on Drudge. Big time!

Just a personal thing about the, whatever, piling on. I’m a writer. It’s HARD WORK–the caps thing alone is tough enough. I’ve written lots of bad stuff, some good stuff and a whole lot in between, but I’ve never been tempted to rip anyone off.

The guy has committed a writing offense, nothing more, nothing less. As much as some of us would like it to be more, or some of us less, that’s really all it is.

But it’s the worst writing offense, and deserving of censure and shame. AND a bright, white spotlight.

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Kafkaz said on February 29, 2008 at 3:22 pm

Hah! I had to go find that reference, Grytpype–now *there’s* some talented f-bomb dropping.

Goeglein’s action was brought to light in a posting by a blogger, Nancy Nall.

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Mad Librarian said on February 29, 2008 at 3:32 pm

Mad Lib, I do agree that the conservative movement is sick. Just not irredemably so. As long as there are a few of us who are just as ardent and enthusiastic for the outing of the phonies within our own ranks, it’ll probably be okay.

‘Tis damn glad to hear it, I am. And may your tribe increase! If there were more like you (and intellectually honest recovering conservatives like John Cole), we’d be a lot better off.

Now I think I’d better go and do some actual “work” at my “job”.

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brian stouder said on February 29, 2008 at 3:32 pm

WP Denver – great link! They might fix it, but the OPENING paragraph at Salon is

Friday morning, Timothy Goeglein, a special assistant to President Bush and deputy director of the Office of Public Liaison, admitted that he plagiarized a lengthy portion of a recent column he wrote for the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.

hahahahahahahahaha!!!

The News-Sentinel might say “Nall? Never heard of her” – and then karma (or Salon!) lists their arch-rival as the agrieved party!

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Dorothy said on February 29, 2008 at 3:34 pm

Who’s up for a trip to be in the audience when Madam Telling Tales sits in the visitor’s chair on The Daily Show?? Should we all get matching tee shirts that “We Knew Nancy Before She Was Scoop”??

Someone already cited the piece by Goeglein titled “Remember Puritan Roots of Liberty,” which appears to have been taken down by the News Sentinel. But in a blog critique of that piece published in July, 2005, Goeglein is quoted as having written, “Pope John Paul II, a great friend of America and himself a great advocate for human freedom, required only a decade to demonstrate how much more powerful is faith in God than the banalities of dialectical materialism. This is not unrelated to our own national sense of personal freedom and dignity. Preponderantly, the forces of freedom favor the devout rather than a bright idyll of rational humanism. Secularism creates a culture of almost mystical triviality.”

I took that last unique phrase–“culture of almost mystical triviality”– and Googled it and found a blog which discusses the contents of the June, 2005 (one month earlier) issue of The New Criterion. In his review of that issue, Thomas C. Reeves writes, “David B. Hart, one of the great religious thinkers of our day, reviews a book on the rise and fall of atheism in the West. Hart comments, “…rather than a bright idyll of rational humanism, secularism creates a culture of almost mystical triviality…”

Not every newspaper is as concerned over plagiarism as it should be. The Charlotte Sun (Port Charlotte, Fla.) has built a small family empire out of the practice — and I have constructed a blog devoted almost entirely to pointing out this out. The Sun needs a new writer’s title: Staff Plagiarist.
Why do it? Because it’s cheap and easy to get novices and the unscrupulous to write (not that Goeglein is a novice); it’s easier to ignore than check; and in the end, there’s no penalty for plagiarism unless a source or the newspaper chooses to retaliate — rare events both. In fact, it’s easier for the newspaper to ignore the infraction that go through the public embarrassment of vetting old columns, firing the creep, and making a public apology — at least that’s the de facto policy at the Charlotte Sun-Herald.http://www.oldwordwolf.blogspot.com

From Editor&Publisher (via CNET blogs):
“The problem is: More examples have now been identified at The Washington Post and New York Sun, with further searches (including at the News-Sentinel) just starting. As recently as Wednesday, Goeglein wrote a tribute to the late William F. Buckley for the National Review site.”

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alex said on February 29, 2008 at 3:46 pm

Hey, Nance, you finally got attribution in the News-Sentinel. By way of the AP, but anyhoo…

kafkaz … re: “foretaste of heaven” — that’s why I wrote “dubious” — when you add “friendship is a foretaste of heaven” it becomes a little more dubious. And its the first line of his piece on WFB. With all that has been exposed here today, I didn’t think it worth the effort to research beyond the first line, adding it to the pile for others more enthusiastic for the chase.

Regardless, if anyone on the planet deserved something better that a “commonplace” to lead off a tribute, it was WFB.

And it spreads around the world:White House Aide Accused of Plagarism
Guardian, UK
Timothy Goeglein, who has worked for President Bush since 2001, was accused of lifting material from an essay that appeared in a Dartmouth College …

Jeff (above) asks the question, “What level of willful stupidity does it take,” and I can only emphasize his rightful assertion of “willful stupidity.” This leaves me sick in the seat of every creative thing I have ever done, ever read, ever wondered at, or ever enjoyed.

What kind of “thinking” allows a person to rationalize the theft of others’ creativity? Is this non-attributive act of aggression indicative of a false sense of entitlement? Or, is this merely another act of political expediency without regard for consequences?

For the life of me, I cannot understand why people do these things. Excellent catch of yet another verburglar.

What a perfect Friday story…gonna watch and see what the mainstream folks (Shields and Brooks on the NewsHour? CNN’s Reliable Sources? Olbermann?) have to say as they fulminate over the weekend. (UPDATE: 4:32 pm: the story hits CNN’s Situation Room.)

Nancy, you should be (and I know you are) as proud of your readers as you are of this post. The interaction and the willingness to pick up the baton and go see what they can find through their friendly neighborhood search engine…and then talk about it intelligently from a spectrum of political points of view—that’s why it’s nice having this site provide fine cardiac exercise for our venerable ragtag server.

Looks like you and Danny found the common ground i was looking for, re: our desire in the conservative camp to keep the trash packed out of the backcountry and properly buried. Didn’t mean to mischaracterize you, it’s just that between these two statements: “Never said it was unique. . .(to the Conservative Movement)” and “there is something very wrong, systemically wrong, irredemably sick and perverted and broken, with the modern Conservative Movement” i don’t see the distinction.

Love the Devanagari ref’n — this why the internets is so fun! May the tribe of Librarians (and their cousins the media specialists) increase, they be mad, liberal, or four-years-aged-in-oak.

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Lynn said on February 29, 2008 at 4:47 pm

How strange and awesome to be catching up on a little Salon and to see “Goeglein’s admission comes after blogger Nancy Nall alleged that he had lifted entire passages of the column…” I’m having a little thrill of celebrity here: her kid was in my storytime at the library! We do miss you in FW, but that a great catch like this makes it back to us is small solace.

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Danny said on February 29, 2008 at 4:49 pm

Dorothy, I thought you were supposed to be keeping an eye on CNN. How did you just let yourself get scooped by James?

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Howie said on February 29, 2008 at 4:56 pm

Nancy – i was out all day and just spent an hour catching up. Nice find and nice writing. This will be fun to watch it all play out.

What a delightful find! No, not Tim’s plagiarism, as scrumptious an outing as it is, but this blog. It’s linked from a comment on ThinkProgress’s story about Bush Library Donors which is how I found it. Hope you don’t mind if I visit now and then.

Gah, I wish I could write! What a joy to read most of the comments here!

“Here is Sister Marie Aquinas’ resume of Cicero’s ideas:
‘Cicero defined friendship as an ACCORD OF WILLS, TASTES, AND THOUGHTS as a harmonious agreement in all matters, divine and human, ACCOMPANIED BY MUTUAL GOODWILL AND AFFECTION.’ ”

The White House “Verburglar” at nationalreview.com:

“We will remember our dear friend who so generously and consistently and willingly, over many years, gave us a foretaste of heaven by his fun, his witticisms, his seriousness about serious things, his patriotism, his verve, his . . . the list is endless. Above all, he gave his love and friendship, A PERFECT AGREEMENT OF WILLS, TASTES, AND THOUGHTS ACCOMPANIED BY A BENEVOLENCE AND AFFECTION WITHOUT PEER.”

I’d put this more in the borderline category. Maybe in more educated circles paraphrasing Cicero is obvious in a way that doesn’t require a nod. Still, it does make you wonder whether he every writes anything in his own words.

I wonder whether former Indiana Senator Dan Coats should be checking any op-eds or speeches that Goeglein helped write as his spokesman?

Now, it’d be great if one could gain access to some of Goeblien’s internal WH memos. I wonder how much has Goeblein, whose name in German could be loosely interpreted as “Little Goebbels”, plagiarized from Papa Goebbels’s writings – in his day job as director of the WH’s Office of Public Liaison.

Of course, in the modern Bushist/Rovian GOP circles lifting from the Great Josef’s (both Goebbels and Stalin) is not considered plagiarism: it’s merely a translation of core Party documents…

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Sue said on February 29, 2008 at 5:14 pm

Ashley: Plus, Hart stated that he was flattered by it. Can you explain why he only would have considered dealing with it if it were in an “academic context”?

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alex said on February 29, 2008 at 5:15 pm

Actually, Nance gave the newspaper the heads up on Thursday that she’d be writing about this. A very decent and honorable thing to do for your former employer.

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Rick T. said on February 29, 2008 at 5:21 pm

Absolutely hilarious situation. I used to work with Tim Goeglein at Coney. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I’m guessing his political ambitions have just taken quite a hit. This is more fun with the N-S than I’ve had since I got to write the story about the cat that painted modern art

We reported what we knew online Friday. As in the case three years ago, we used the Internet search engine Google to check other Goeglein columns from the past and found plagiarism in several – 19 at last count. That means Goeglein lifted whole passages from other sources and misrepresented them as his own.

Nineteen. (!!!) Sort of qualifies for the “every word is a lie, including ‘and’ and ‘the'” test, doesn’t it?

jc, have you ever heard of the slashdot effect? I regularly read slashdot and when a story gets linked to a server that is not up to the task, it is reckoned that it is left in a smoking pile of ashes.

Newsflash: God and the administration have already forgiven Goeglein, and he’s going to “move forward”.

At least, I lay 200:1 that’s what we’ll see in a day or so.

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Dorothy said on February 29, 2008 at 5:32 pm

Ah rats, Danny, you outed me: I’ve become a closet Scrabulous freak. Anyone for a game???

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Mad Librarian said on February 29, 2008 at 5:32 pm

Jeff,
I’m glad we have some common ground, too. If I’m sometimes intemperate in my speech, it’s only because I love my country and hate seeing what is being done to it (yes, I–a liberal!!!) by the Bushisti.

…it’s just that between these two statements: “Never said it was unique. . .(to the Conservative Movement)” and “there is something very wrong, systemically wrong, irredemably sick and perverted and broken, with the modern Conservative Movement” i don’t see the distinction.

I think the distinction is between the intellectually honest conservatives (like you and Danny), and the devotees of the Bush Cargo Cult, the Nuke Tehran to Bring on the Rapture boys (like the “Rev.” Hagee who just endorsed McCain), and other assorted Dead Enders and Reality Denialists. To clarify, that is what I meant by the “modern Conservative Movement”. If you and I can agree on large chunks of what constitutes reality, I’ve got no problem with you, even though we may disagree on specific policies.

Frankly, I’m more worried that you wrote “deceased operatic composers” than any plagiarism by this nonentity. It’s “deceased opera composers”. Menotti wrote operas, he didn’t write music operatically.

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Sue said on February 29, 2008 at 5:34 pm

Given that Nancy said that Mr. Goeglein wrote columns about his parents’ marriage, I think his immediate family members should begin checking their high school and college essays, Christmas newsletters and possibly grocery lists for suspicious similarities.

I wanna see the weasel’s resume. I’ll bet you a Jefferson buffalo nickle there’s more creative spark in that tinder than in any of his “columns.”

And thanks for dirtying up the concept of “column” for us, Timbo. But a good reminder to those of us who write them regularly that a lame formulation (or just cutting it a graf short if the editor doesn’t mind) is better than being a thief.

Yes Danny, that’s why I’ve spent the day in the digital equivalent of the engine room, monitoring the valves and levers and creaky gauges. We’re hanging in there. Fortunately, Nancy’s exposé didn’t touch on someone really famous to people who hold mice and stare at screens all day, like Linus Torvalds, Steve Jobs, or Steve Ballmer.

“Can you explain why he only would have considered dealing with it if it were in an “academic context”?”

My guess is that Hart isn’t viewing this as a case of academic rivalry, but rather one neocon helping out another neocon. As long as their end goal is furthering the cause, it’s excusable. Thats my guess.

I want the other victims of Goeglein’s plagiarism to sue the News-Sentinel.

Just a snark, but the plagiarism’s not the half of it — it’s the content of treacle that stirred Nancy’s journalistic instincts. That was the crime. Nancy knew it stunk, and there was something not-right about it, so she did what any good, no GREAT journalist would do and investigated.

Last comment from me on Leap Day: “I love the smell of overloaded server in the morning — it smells like . . . justice!”

(See, trite, but original.)

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Gary S. said on February 29, 2008 at 5:39 pm

Ok, the story is now everywhere on the net — authored by AP (its WH flak Terrence Hunt gets the byline), and with full attribution to Nancy incl. a link to her web site. Here’s the link to the story as seen on Yahoo news.

Wow, talk about burying the lede. It’s not until the third graf–and then, almost like an afterthought–that the News-Sentinel let’s it’s readers know that this guy happens to work for the president of the United States and is the White House point person on all things devout and holy. Another non-newspaper employee, they say! It’s like the Mitchell Report saying, “…and some other pitchers, including Roger Clemens.”

About three years ago a reader notified The News-Sentinel that a freelance writer we had been using was guilty of plagiarism. That is, he was misrepresenting others’ words as his own. Freelancers are not newspaper employees, but someone whose stories we contract to purchase.

We found that three articles the freelance writer had submitted to us as his own original work contained whole passages from other newspapers and sources without attribution. Our response, then, was to publish a story by our editor at the time that explained what happened, explained our policy and response and apologized to the readers for the writer’s misrepresentation. And, of course, the writer was not used again.

It has happened again by another non-newspaper employee. Fort Wayne native Timothy S. Goeglein, special assistant to the president of the United States, has submitted what we call guest columns to this newspaper for the past decade, writing about a variety of subjects.

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grytpype thynne said on February 29, 2008 at 5:43 pm

“Well done. It’s not in the same class as, say, revealing Dan Rather’s fake Texas Air National Guard memos but it’s up there in that league.”

Great analogy – in both cases the writing itself was fake even though the underlying sentiment was true.

The plot thickens once you recognize the source of Jeffrey Hart’s central distinction, which he lifts without attribution from Matthew Arnold’s “Hebraism and Hellenism”:

. . . Hebraism and Hellenism,—between these two points of influence moves our world. At one time it feels more powerfully the attraction of one of them, at another time of the other; and
it ought to be, though it never is, evenly and happily
balanced between them.
The final aim of both Hellenism and Hebraism, as of all great spiritual disciplines, is no doubt the same:man’s perfection or salvation. . . . Still, they pursue this aim by very different courses.The uppermost idea with Hellenism is to see things as they really are; the uppermost idea with Hebraism is conduct and obedience . . .

Hart returns (silently) to the scene of the crime with that offhanded reference to “the best that has been said” etc, which is from another essay of Arnold (“The Function of Criticism”); either poor citation manners or simply lousy scholarship. Or worse.

Arnold’s essay was originally published in 1869, in his ‘Culture and Anarchy’; my copy is from my beat-up edition of ‘Matthew Arnold: Prose and Poetry’ (Scribner’s, 1927) .

I am not surprised. Bush speechwriters have been plagiarizing old Goebbels speeches since day one (for real).

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John said on February 29, 2008 at 6:03 pm

Poor Tim. We should be less hard on him. With all the work he has to do in the WH, he obviously doesn’t have time to think for himself. It seems clear, though, that he has mastered the MS Word hot keys [ctrl]-C and [ctrl]-V.
Most of the lifted material is so similar to the original that I doubt that he had time even to read the stuff. Most likely had to take advantage of “Find and Replace,” as well. Again, working at the WH has to be a killer.

Ezra, one of my co-bloggers, said “I thought it was in bad taste to suggest in his resignation that ‘you won’t have Timothy Goeglein to kick around anymore.'”

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Ted said on February 29, 2008 at 7:20 pm

Hi Nancy,

I am wondering if you can share some information on Timothy Goeglein.

I am a Fort Wayne native living on the west coast (Left Coast to my parents back in Ft. Wayne!) and saw the story in national news. I fell over when I saw the connection of Goeglein to the News Sentinal. Can you provide some bio information on him if he is from Ft. Wayne. I am trying to figure out if he is a Fort Wayne native, and how old he is, etc. I grew up hanging out with a kid named Timothy Goeglein that lived across Maysville Rd. from the Goeglein’s Barn Reception Hall which his family owned and operated. I am just trying to get all of my right wing information down for the next dinner at the family table when I am back in the Fort. Also, glad to see you are still writing. I am out here and out of touch, but your name rang an instant bell of credibility when I saw it. Keep up your good work, and thanks!!!

You won’t find a mention of it on the major conservative blogs. I quickly skimmed through hardcore Wingnuttia (NRO’s The Corner, Red State, Power Line) and Wingnuttia-light (InstaPutz, barebacking Andy, Politico), and, as of 7:00pm EST, not a word!

As I write this, Newsweek/AP reports that Goeblein has resigned. Ah, so many innocent victims of the vicious liberal blogger attack machine. Is there enough room in the GOP Pantheon for all these “fallen heroes” ?

P.S. Does anyone keep a complete scalp count ?

P.P.S. Any guesses on which GOP mouthpiece or “think tank” will benefit from Goeblein’s sudden “availability” ? My bet is on WashTimes.

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Bonnie Blackburn said on February 29, 2008 at 7:30 pm

Nice job Nancy — from one who know and remembers…

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Crabby said on February 29, 2008 at 7:37 pm

Nice catch, Nancy!

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MonkeyBoy said on February 29, 2008 at 7:43 pm

Anybody notice the social status games going on here?

Goeglein wants to be considered a Big Important Person like (William F. Buckley) and signs his columns Timothy Goeglein.

The White House press release refers to him as Tim Goeglein or just Tim. Notice the power differential of names in the real meat of the story: President Bush accepted Tim’s resignation today.

Kind of petty of the White House to not hat-tip Nancy. Where’s their internet etiquette?

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Kafkaz said on February 29, 2008 at 8:10 pm

“Foretaste of Heaven”

Well, since it is such a commonplace of a phrase (perhaps itself a “C.S. Lewis-ism”, as Kim so aptly puts it above, though I’ve seen more than one writer, including Lewis, cited as the original source), you’re going to find it in combination with all sorts of good things: love, friendship, sex, humor, even chocolate. (Not necessarily in that order, but all things that can be fun, both in and of themselves and in combination, in any case.) And, of course, you find it combined with religious things of every stripe, as well, so that prayer, communion, the spirit, and the church itself are all “foretastes of heaven.”

Personally, I’d go with the love, friendship, sex, humor, chocolate combo, if given the opportunity to define my heaven, but (fore)tastes do vary.

David, naturally a heartfelt eulogy would always be preferable to some vanilla sendoff, but then again eulogies are one of the most common places to find, ta da, commonplaces. Births, birthdays, graduations, weddings, deaths–all key times when people most desperately want to say the fresh and memorable thing, but all times when the weight of the event (these are all moments that are both centrally significant and endlessly repeated) itself makes escaping the trite darned hard.

My personal favorite to crib when encountering a new baby: “Now *that’s* a baby!”

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behindthefall said on February 29, 2008 at 8:16 pm

May I come over and play occasionally? I like the tone of the blog, and the time might come when I want to comment, so perhaps if you could just vet me ahead of time … I promise to behave. I’m usually over at FDL. Emptywheel tolerates me — although IANAL.

Only people on the right wing would want to read them, but of such readers none read very widely or else they might of recognized some of the month old right wing sources he cribbed from. Or maybe his readers were going senile.

You are a beacon of hope for us all. We can shake up the biggest establishments in the world, and all we need is a blog! ;p

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Don said on February 29, 2008 at 8:53 pm

Nancy, Fantastic work in exposing yet another hypocritical political-type. But, I don’t know what to quite make of this situation. I was close friends with Tim in high school (Paul Harding, class of 82) but have not had contact with him in 20+ years. Yeah, he appears to be another right-wing hack job. Since I no longer live in Ft. Wayne I have not seen any of his columns and as I said I have not had contact with him in over 20 years. I have caught part of a presentation he did on C-SPAN and knew that he was a Bushie doing the religious right’s bidding. But, I also knew Tim when he was 16 and he expressed concern about neo-nazis having the right to march in Skokie or about unrest in far off lands. (I was worried about gym class and zits and couldn’t even comprehend some of the things Tim was thinking about.) He obviously had ambition from an early age (I think I met him when we were about 13) and he cared a lot about his family and issues back then. If I wasn’t such a lunkhead maybe he could have got me to think about some lofty issues as well. Unfortunately, he threw his lot in with Bush & Co. and his ambitions, personal and/or political, got the best of him. Anyway, he brought the current problems on himself. But, my initial delight in seeing yet another White House staffer get exposed for wrong-doing is tempered by remembrances of the guy I knew 25 years ago. But, that guy did a really stupid thing. I’m not sure why.

My hat’s off to you Nancy for writing a superb entry on this matter.

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Kim said on February 29, 2008 at 9:01 pm

“Now that’s a baby!”

Now that’s hilarious!

My lede for the FWNS story:

Thanks to the dozen or so keystrokes of a former columnist, the FWNS has launched an investigation that has revealed native son and White House minion Tim(othy) Goeglein stole the work of others for more than half the columns he submitted to this paper.

Nancy Nall, a columnist until she left for a fellowship some journalists consider prestigious, revealed in a blog she writes from her lovely Michigan home (and occasionally on the road, but only if it’s important or funny) that Mr. Goeglein, whose parents still live in The Fort, really doesn’t write the way he speaks. Well, he does, but he takes the written words of others, then apparently uses that as his script for life.

But that is beside the point. We at the FWNS want to assure readers that these columns were neither solicited nor paid for by the FWNS. In other words, we ran them because they were free. And because Mr. Goeglein kept sending them every month and, you know, he’s at the White House, which lends a certain foretaste of gravitas — you know, an appetizer of substance.

So, anyway, we regret that Mr. Goeglein made these errors. But, like we said, they were his errors and you should feel assured that the FWNS remains your trusted news source.

[…]The Tim Goeglein plagiarism story broke just 12 hours ago, and it’s already moved from humble blog post to national news sensation. It’s a great example of the speed at which communication moves today, with lessons for bloggers, writers and anyone else who’s interested in old or new media.[…]

Nancy Nall, a former columnist for the paper, often used her Web site, http://www.nancynall.com, to poke fun at his writings, which she called “drippy and awful.”

Ms. Nall said she was struck by Mr. Goeglein’s most recent column, on Thursday, which included a reference to a “notable professor of philosophy at Dartmouth,” Eugene Rosenstock-Hussey. Curious, she searched the Internet, and found that Mr. Goeglein had lifted major chunks of the column from an article published 10 years ago in The Dartmouth Review.

[[ why are blockquotes styled so funny here? ]]

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JamesK said on February 29, 2008 at 9:42 pm

*tips hat in respect*

Not a bad day’s work, all considered. Congrads.

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Tori said on February 29, 2008 at 9:46 pm

I’m speechless. Good work!

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Kafkaz said on February 29, 2008 at 9:46 pm

Kim–yeah. Kind of falls into the “with a voice like that, you ought to take lessons!” category. I think the baby thing begins with Steve Allen, but I don’t really know. I stole it from a funny old priest a long time ago, and have heard it repeated in varying forms too many times to mention in the years since then. (Sermon swiping is exceedingly common, btw. There are “sermon mills” just as there are paper mills. Oral tradition and elective sharing gets us into a whole separate category, though. Assignments are another category of composition often shared and adapted to varying extents. Wouldn’t shock me to learn that there are some students out there who have been caught plagiarizing essays in response to assignments that were themselves borrowed or swiped wholly without penalty. Outright stealing makes my heart hurt, but these other areas I do confess to finding pretty fascinating. Good citations don’t always make good writing. I like the play of allusion, and don’t think we ought to waste time being frosted by every deliberate nod to or echo of another text.) Anyway, I also like the “now that’s . . .” construction because it is so highly adaptable: now that’s a meal, now that’s a point, now that’s an outfit, now that’s a hairdo, etc.

I love “foretaste of gravitas.”

P.S. to all–Thanks for letting me join in on your conversation. Fascinating, all around.

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Imelda Blahnik said on February 29, 2008 at 9:47 pm

So fitting that one of the main articles he verburgled* from concerned the alleged cultural crisis in America. He being one of the good guys, of course, culture’s defenders.

I’m stoked by this find, and to find your blog, via Atrios. I may use this example next fall in my college courses when I attempt to explain to my students why plagiarism is bad. However, I fear that some of them may come away with the message that if they plagiarize they too might get to work in the White House.

*verburgled: great word, whoever coined it

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joodyb said on February 29, 2008 at 9:51 pm

oh no! sheryl gay S. has it wrong! she says

A blogger in Goeglein’s hometown, Fort Wayne, Ind., found the plagiarism.

gd nyt.

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RudigerVT said on February 29, 2008 at 9:57 pm

Is somebody going to tell this poor soul that his beloved Gian Carlo Menotti was the long-time, er, companion of the US-born Samuel Barber?

Odd how neither article (Reilly’s vapid original; Goeglein uncomprehending regurgitation) managed to get into that little factoid. That would probably also mean acknowledging that it was Menotti’s paramour (Barber) who was arguably the more important composer who also wrote in an essentially conservative, accessible style.

I never thought I’d say this, but God bless you, Nancy Nall! I have known Tim Goeglein since we competed in speech tournaments in 1982. He was a smarmy cheat then and it has always gnawed at me that he’s been successful despite that flaw. I check your blog almost every day, but I spotted this on Drudge — imagine that. My wife saw my jaw hanging open and asked me what was wrong. I simply told her that it was nice to see justice prevail. I will sleep well tonight.

Please don’t feel bad about this. He wrecked his own career — you merely exposed what has been going on for a very long time. Isn’t that what good journalism is all about?

Great reporting. Well done, Nancy. Other journalists could learn a lot from you.

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Gena said on February 29, 2008 at 10:59 pm

As if it were your fault.

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Colleen said on February 29, 2008 at 11:10 pm

Lead story on News 15 at 11. You were identified by the NS source as “a former columnist”.

Wow. This really ended up huge, didn’t it? But…WHY would he do it and think he could get away with it, not a couple of times, but TWENTY?!

I’m pretty sure he shattered one of the commandments the xtian right is so fond of….

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nancy said on February 29, 2008 at 11:13 pm

I was only the fourth or fifth story on Detroit’s local news, behind a police tasing of two teenagers, an oncoming snow squall and a couple things I forget.

Guys, I’m taking a day or two to absorb all this before I write anything more. Anyone still reading down here, we generally take the weekend off, but stop back around Sunday night/Monday morning for Jerry Springer’s Final Thoughts.

Didn’t you break this? How come your name isn’t in the paper for it in Indiana? Same as on the Huffington Post? Perhaps I’m missing something, but it seemed to me that this story exists and the douche-o resigned…because of you. Is that incorrect? Just saw a new link on Romenesko and there’s nary a mention of you.

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George Stuteville said on March 1, 2008 at 12:23 am

I was the former Washington DC columnist for The Indianapolis Star. I knew Goeglein quite well during the 1990’s when he worked as a press aide for Sen. Dan Coats.

Tim was then a smart, funny, highly principled man. I liked him and we played golf together a couple of times.

I can only believe that he would engage in this intellectual larceny as a result of his daily association with the likes of Karl Rove and those other monsters in the White House. What I detest most about them is how under such pious camouflage they have self-justified the creation of one of the most evil administrations in American history. Chicanery ushered these people into the White House in 2000 and their legacy will be the lies and the thousands of deaths those lies spawned. I truly believe Goeglein got caught up in this dark political culture at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. and gulped their peculiar Kool-Aid. As for his future, he’ll end up at the Hudson Institute. If goeglein needs or wants to pursue a redemptive path, say on the same order of magnitude as the Apostle Paul, then he should find a way to expose the far worse lies and sins of his boss and boss’s boss. That would be service to truth and to the country. Meanwhile, I will still be glad to golf with him.

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Zach Williams said on March 1, 2008 at 12:36 am

Such a party this is! Why do I feel like breaking out the fine plastic and the Martinelli’s? Let me summarize thusly: The answer to the question, “What would Jesus do?”, is NOT, in fact, “Plagiarize.”

(smug laughter ensues)

However, I must say that my hide is quite chapped by the ridiculously obtuse statement released by the white house, (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/02/20080229-9.html)
which fails to use the word “plagiarize”, and also uses the phrase, “columns published under his name”, which will equate to fodder for right-wing radio talk show hosts and their anti-left conspiracy theories.

Ciao!

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Lesley said on March 1, 2008 at 12:48 am

You know what would be a miracle? Finding a single ethical person in the Bush Whitehouse.

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bill m said on March 1, 2008 at 1:09 am

Thank you, Thank you again…….. but I expect no less from this administration. Anything…… not if, when.

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Fitzalot said on March 1, 2008 at 1:38 am

Good night Ms Nall, and thank you for revealing another right wing hypocrite.

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tony said on March 1, 2008 at 2:08 am

Congratulations. Good work. Good blog.

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Tim Goeglein said on March 1, 2008 at 4:42 am

You will pay Woman. One way or another. If it’s the last thing I ever do. You will pay and pay dearly. You cost me my job and now I have to find another one to feed my family.

You’re an jerk of the highest order.

What comes around, goes around, remember that.

Tim

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daniel said on March 1, 2008 at 6:46 am

Nicely done.

Daniel

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Jason Brody said on March 1, 2008 at 6:53 am

Nice work!

The unfolding of this story through the real time comments has been a thrilling read. [for most of the comments anyway…]

I hope the great sleuthing doesn’t stop at Tim’s Fort Wayne News-Sentinel articles. The real story, as someone has pointed out, is that Tim worked as a White House aide. The White House has played damage control: they characterize this is something that one staffer did while writing for a newspaper without their knowledge or approval. But Tim was so cavalierly dishonest, in so many articles, that it is hard to believe that he wasn’t as dishonest in his work for the White House. That’s something that I would really care about.

Your email link on the front page doesn’t work. Wanted to send you this hilarious AP notice, all thanks to your good work: An E.B. White Moment

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Kevin Knuth said on March 1, 2008 at 8:01 am

And to think…..we knew Nancy before she was famous!

😉

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Peter said on March 1, 2008 at 8:05 am

Well I retract my previous statement from WAY up there (in the ’20’s) about how this will all be like howler monkees and nothing will come of it.

Huzzah Ms. Nall!

Don’t forget to spray paint Tim’s visage with the X through it next to Bob Greene’s on your car’s quarterpanel, ala WWII bombers!

And as for “I feel bad doing this”, I can believe it. But don’t feel too bad – he should have stuck to his day job.

And as for the sub-debate on Doris the Plagasaurus – she’s pond scum as well. My biggest beef is that she remained (and for all I know, still remains) on Harvard’s board after that incident, in an institution where an undergrad would get the automatic heave ho if they did anything nearly as bad as Doris.

As for any scruples or feelings of regret about exposing this guy, he’s a Kommissar Karl acolyte and they all deserve exactly what they get.

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michaelj said on March 1, 2008 at 9:24 am

And in the NYT, with a working link. Oh shit. Batten down the hatches. I don’t know how this works, but does this shake out some sort of financial windfall?

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William Walters said on March 1, 2008 at 9:26 am

Your gloating belies your trite statement that you “feel bad about what I’m going to do here.” Obviously, you take great pride in being center stage in public. Moreover, and contrary to what you may have expected, Tim Goeglein took immediate and full responsibility for his actions. The White House acted immediately as well. Tim, a husband and father of two, is now jobless. If the issue of plagiarism is so dear, and is the sole core of your intentions in exposing this matter, then you could have handled this privately. Nevertheless, you chose to smear this man publicly. Now that you have assisted in the destruction of his career, are you big enough to step up and offer your support to his family? I do not fault you for holding any public servant’s feet to the fire, but your manner of execution is shameful.
William Walters – a former colleague and friend of Tim Goeglein.

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Matt Mendelsohn said on March 1, 2008 at 9:38 am

>>>The real story, as someone has pointed out, is that Tim worked as a White House aide. The White House has played damage control: they characterize this is something that one staffer did while writing for a newspaper without their knowledge or approval.<<<

I agree. Only eight months ago, Mr. Goeglein was representing the president of the United States as he delivered a eulogy at the funeral of Jerry Falwell. (Who knows if that eulogy was plagiarized. That would be pretty low.)

To simply write this guy off as a some low-level aide is naive. He was the point person for this administration to the evangelical right and that is significant.

I don’t know if Mr. Goeglein contributed in this regard but it would be interesting to look back at some of the president’s speeches before evangelical groups to see if any of these purloined letters (I stole that from a guy named Edgar) found their way in.

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TAG said on March 1, 2008 at 9:42 am

Hey Nancy, I grew up just down the road from the Fort and I used to read your columns exclusively (after, of course, checking out crime and accident news – you know how Hoosiers are). Whenever I’d be back home to visit, I’d always catch up on what you had to say. I guess I lost track and didn’t realize you had moved on.

I’m living in DC now and was doing my morning news reading online when I came across this story and saw a name I knew well. Kudos to you! Frankly, any small exposure of hypocrisy within this admin should be celebrated as a success – they’ve elevated subterfuge to an art form.

I don’t know Tim Goeglin nor do I really care. The sooner the people of this country boot out this admin and their apologists, the better. If Tim loses his News Sentinal column, he can always peddle it down the road to the Htgn Herald-Press – they’d eat up his maudlin right-wing drivel. Or maybe he can find a new job giving tours in the Quayle museum.

And one last thing, plagiarism is just plain lazy hypocrisy. Tim, if you’re going to emulate the best of the best in that bunch, you need to put some effort into this and elevate your game to actual lying to the public’s face and passing it off as perfectly reasonable policy. Try harder!

ps. Glad to have found you again, Nancy!

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Tiagara said on March 1, 2008 at 9:43 am

I love your prose, it is so mordant! I really enjoyed the “apple-cheeked Hoosier drippiness”. Wonderful! I will return for more of your scintillating sarcasm soon.

I wonder if you have a lot more of these succulent morsels sprinkled generously throughout your other articles?

I will read on, anticipating more wonderfully crafted phrases such as “…he chooses to write awful, turgid essays on the wonders of Hoagy Carmichael…”

You turn a word in a wonderfully refreshing way. I am turgid with anticipation 🙂

T

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KamaAina said on March 1, 2008 at 10:06 am

Geaux Nancy! Obviously, I’m one of Ashley Morris’ sycophants. This is the only way to chip away at the Bush machine: one loser at a time. As AshMo himself might say, “So many mooks, so little time”…

The story has made it all the way to the New York Times, complete with your URL!

Damn, Nall, you’re the epitome of prejudice and hate. You obviously don’t believe that other points of view should be allowed by your first amendment.

Here’s a few of my observations.

• The trash Urinal Gay-zette wouldn’t exist if it were run in the evening.
• Call the Sentinel what you wish, we consider the source.

You slam Tim for his beliefs, his family, his friends and I’m sure nothing is off limits
to a bitter old hag as yourself.

If I chose to read more of your blog, you would also slam his children.

Are you on Hillary’s campaign? You should be. I see many similarities.

As far as the left’s failings, they can be summed up as, well, socialist, communist, and whatever TEARS at the positive social fabric of the family and America. Homosexuals, internet porn, NAMBLA, ACLU, Antichrist, Antichurch, Illegal alien amnesty-votes (for democrats), property tax increases, tax increases.

The muslims hate America only because what the lowlife liberals are exporting here and abroad. They hate the abominations I mentioned above. As far as I’m concerned, I would invite them in this country to take care of the left, if only the muslims were intelligent enough to identify what they hate is NOT all Americans but —Liberal americans.

(P.S. Those of us who saw your article photo in the past know why your web blog picture is blurred….Thank you, Photoshop.)Damn, Nall, you’re the epitome of prejudice and hate. You obviously don’t
believe that other points of view should be allowed by your first amendment.

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michaelj said on March 1, 2008 at 10:22 am

I’d like to ask William Walters one question: Had this been handled privately, would Mr. Goeglein have behaved honorably in acknowledging his dishonorable behavior, with the identical result concerning his employment?

Yeah! Another blogger made it! The Bush machine has so many chinks in its armour, the stories are out there. I’m glad yours made the front page. I’m still waiting.

Congratulations and best of luck!

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Doc said on March 1, 2008 at 10:25 am

Matt Mendelsohn Says: Only eight months ago, Mr. Goeglein was representing the president of the United States as he delivered a eulogy at the funeral of Jerry Falwell. (Who knows if that eulogy was plagiarized. That would be pretty low.)
March 1st, 2008 at 9:38 am

Especially if the infringed work were Hunter S. Thompson’s obit for Nixon. Especially if the hypothetical TG borrowed the part about needing “servants to help him screw his pants on every morning.”

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michaelj said on March 1, 2008 at 10:27 am

Most likely, if you’re an infamous white plagiarist, rather than Jayson Blair or Janet Cooke, you’ve already got an offer at Faux News to play Mike Barnicle Junior on TV.

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William Walters said on March 1, 2008 at 10:30 am

Michaelj –

I have absolutely no doubts that he would have honorably acknowledged his action, offered his immediate resignation and appropriate apologies. No doubts whatsoever!

I have known him personally and professionally for over 8 years.

William Walters

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nancy said on March 1, 2008 at 10:36 am

What you don’t understand, William, is that there is simply no way this could have been “handled privately.” Once a charge is made, it is the paper’s policy — and this is pretty standard across the industry — to handle their investigation publicly. Leo Morris explains on his blog:

When there is a charge of plagiarism, there is a protocol. We verify if the plagiarism happened. If it it’s a staff member who is guilty, the staff member is fired. If it is someone else (a letter-to-the-editor writer, for example), that person is banned from the page or the paper. We start examining everything else the person has written to see if there is an isolated problem or an extensive one. We apologize to readers.

Since we can’t send every reader a note via mail, it’s done in the paper, usually on the front page. Names are named, hands are washed.

I’m not responsible for Goeglein’s children being un-provided for. Their daddy is.

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michaelj said on March 1, 2008 at 10:52 am

Here‘s a piece from the Columbia JR with a useful discussion about some cases of plagiarism, and the ethics involved with in dealing with this thought crime.

Full disclosure: In third grade, I handed in a Robert Service poem with some artful disguise and claimed authorship, because I was too lazy to write something original. I hardly think it likely that professionals cheat out of lassitude. It seems in some cases to be a product of self-destructive urges. The pressure excuse seems pretty lame. In most cases the motivation is both murky and mysterious.

“Jeff,” (is your last name Gannon, by any chance?)…the reason Nancy’s photo is blurred is that I’m a lousy photographer. No Photoshop was involved. And it was dark.

William Walters: “If the issue of plagiarism is so dear…” —I’m trying to figure out how to make the connection for you between his ethical lapse and the importance of having ethical people in the White House…but if you want ethically lapsed people to keep their jobs in public life, we have very little common ground.

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William Walters said on March 1, 2008 at 11:01 am

Nancy you wrote: “Once a charge is made.” Indeed, once a charge is made publicly. And you are the one who gleefully made it public.

Did you bring this to the White House privately? Obviously not. Did you bring this to Tim’s attention privately? Obviously not. You executed him publicly with your own self-serving intentions in mind. Could you have forced his resignation privately – indeed you could have. You are not only in part responsible for Tim’s children being “un-provided for” – the greater collateral damage you intentionally created is solely your responsibility. That’s on you and no one else. Now that names were named you want to wash your hands. As I said before – shameful.

William Walters

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basset said on March 1, 2008 at 11:04 am

and now that this has gotten into the NYT network television is going to decide they have to notice it… wonder if they’ll fly Madame to NY for the morning shows, send a Chicago crew out and interview her at home, or just pick up a soundbite from the local affiliate?

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Sam Huff said on March 1, 2008 at 11:05 am

The guy screwed up, you nailed him. Well done, but fuckin move on. You are a hypocrite, you take the exact same pile on mentality liberals despise convervatives for. I can’t see how that makes one feel good or proud. Methinks you are simply an extremely bored woman, living in a hell hole of a city who wants to be recognized because she never made the big time. Piss ant glory hound. Move on!!

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sue said on March 1, 2008 at 11:06 am

William Walters: I know you must be hurting for your friend right now and some of the comments may look like gloating. And some of them are. While taking immediate responsibility for his actions was laudable, Mr. Goeglein and Mr. Goeglein alone put himself in this position. Nancy Nall is a journalist. She has a journalist’s ethics and she did it by the book, so to speak. Those of us who read her regularly know that when she is writing on topics considered more journalistic than, say, library perverts (see previous column), she knows what to do and how to do it. The fact that she is a blogger does not make her less of a journalist. And journalists do feel bad about some of the aspects of their job – Nancy’s comment community contains several journalists who have shared their experiences with us over time. Just as you have no doubt that your friend would have done the honorable thing if this had been kept under wraps, I have no doubt that Nancy did, indeed, feel bad about what she, as a journalist, had to do. I hope you are able to offer some comfort to Mr. Goeglein and his family. I am sure he has friends and options. Good luck to you all.

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Mike said on March 1, 2008 at 11:06 am

I think I’m with Walter on this one. There is no reason to question the integrity of a man who plagiarized 20 out of 38 articles he submitted to one paper (no doubt there is more to come). No doubt had this never been made public, he would have done the same thing he ended up doing. Good luck in you next golf game Walter, but just to be sure you may want to double check the score-card.

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Danny said on March 1, 2008 at 11:12 am

Well put, jc.

To all of you “conservative” TG apologists out there, you ought to be ashamed. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out of the GOP, you bunch of phonies.

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michaelj said on March 1, 2008 at 11:15 am

Actual criminality aside, how is this significantly different from the ethical transgressions of Claude Allen, the White House shoplifter? Both pale in comparison to shitcanning a million emails, but the smaller the fish, the faster they get caught and fry. And both seem compulsively self-destructive.

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William Walters said on March 1, 2008 at 11:21 am

To jcburns:

I am not defending Tim’s plagiarism. Neither is Tim. Neither is the White House. Tim immediately took full responsibility for his actions. He extended his apologies. He immediately resigned his position. The White House agreed.

I am condemning the obvious “blood lust” which was brought to bear in bringing his about his resignation. It is shameful.

Mr. Waters, Timothy Goeglein bears full responsibility for his sad actions. He chose to advance his masters’ interests (and, presumably his own) in a very public forum. The worldview advanced in his columns added very little to the font of public knowledge; rather, it served to advance a divisive and damaging social agenda; an agenda that many in the civilized world view as criminal. Do I have any sympathy for him? Sure, some, but not very much. His $125,000 annual salary as a shill for an administration that has done so much to hurt so many is a disgrace. Will TG do the honorable thing and disgorge any portion of his ill-begotten salary? No, I think not. Did he earn health care coverage for his family for life owing to his White House service? Probably. What HAS he done? Asked us to pray for him. Again, the God-fearing victim. Had NN.c chosen NOT to publicly reveal the plagiarism the world would never have learned that most of his work was stolen. I agree that plagiarism is employed by people of all political leanings, but the MadLibrarian was on to something when she suggested that this story is an apt metaphor for the misfeasance and hypocrisy of this administration. And what’s with equating telling the TRUTH to a public smear? Too many people have remained silent and restrained in their criticisms of this administration for far too long.

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PR said on March 1, 2008 at 11:27 am

Wee Willie Walters you are sounding rather petulant trying to defend the indefensible.

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Joe Frank said on March 1, 2008 at 11:29 am

Jeff (10:11 am) says “The muslims hate America only because what the lowlife liberals are exporting here and abroad. They hate the abominations I mentioned above. As far as I’m concerned, I would invite them in this country to take care of the left, if only the muslims were intelligent enough to identify what they hate is NOT all Americans but —Liberal americans.”

LOL! That makes American conservatives like radical Muslims!! What a nimwit. You never see liberals calling for violence to “take care of” people they disagree with. Conservatives are stupid and dangerous.

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KA said on March 1, 2008 at 11:33 am

“Tim, a husband and father of two, is now jobless…Now that you have assisted in the destruction of his career, are you big enough to step up and offer your support to his family?”

Patriotism used to be the last refuge of a scoundrel. Today it’s parenthood.

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Chuck said on March 1, 2008 at 11:36 am

I presume William Walters is currently boycotting Target since it failed to handle Claude Allen’s trangressions privately.

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Tomas said on March 1, 2008 at 11:36 am

This isn’t plagiarism, Nancy. It’s as innocent as a television re-run, say ‘Leave It to Beaver’ or ‘Daddy Knows Best’.

It seems you have woefully missed the point. At issue is the public behavior of a public official. Why should one handle that public dishonesty privately? If he didn’t want to risk being publicly accused of plagiarism, he could have avoided publishing plagiarized material.

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William Walters said on March 1, 2008 at 11:41 am

To: PR

How trite – invoking the invective “Wee Willie” in falsely claiming me to be petulant and in falsely claiming that I defend the indefensible. You do not see me standing behind the anonymity of my initials.

Tim didn’t immediately resign, he waited several hours between admitting responsibility for that one article and then resigning. That wait moved the timing into the Friday afternoon media dump, where the White House puts all its misdeeds that it’s forced to admit in some form.

I’m also amused by the desire to save Tim’s reputation – as what? As a non-plagiarist? So he can go and do it again somewhere else? Oh right, he’d never do something like that.

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Rob said on March 1, 2008 at 11:45 am

:Tim Goeglein took immediate and full responsibility for his actions.

No. After plagiarizing the first time, Tim continued to plagiarize again and again … and again and again. He spent at least eight long years not taking responsibility for his actions. And we’re to give him credit for fessing up after he was caught?

:Nevertheless, you chose to smear this man publicly.

“Smear” is not a synonym for “say true stuff about.” Goeglein debased himself in a public forum; Nancy merely observed that he had done so.

:The White House acted immediately as well.

Yes, well … Their chief liaison to religious groups was caught stealing from the Pope, among others. But let’s wait and see before we give them too much credit. Tim could still receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, as has become customary in cases like this.

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He Plagiarized the Pope said on March 1, 2008 at 11:47 am

William Walters —

Tim’s making to love your wife right now. But I have no doubt if you confront him privately, he’ll immediately acknowledge his actions and make appropriate apologies.

p.s. — your name is an anagram of Walter Williams!

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michaelj said on March 1, 2008 at 11:48 am

Seriously extensive coverage of l’Affaire Goeglin. (Over/under on elapsed time to “Copygate”?)

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Jeff Borden said on March 1, 2008 at 11:49 am

There is nothing –absolutely nothing– that absolves Timothy Goeglein. He is a thief. He has stolen something from others as surely as if he’d embezzled, shoplifted or hot-wired a car. And he has done it repeatedly. I’ll give him props for admitting his crime, but otherwise, he reveals himself to be a lazy, craven thief. Period.

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Jeff said on March 1, 2008 at 11:50 am

To JCBurns.Is your last name Liberal? Your photography excuse is convenient for us all, Thank You

The plagiarism issue isn’t so dear to me except for the fact that the left/ liberals are hypocrites. The Right punishes and removes its “damned” yet the left still loves its old sexual harasser to the bane of the NOW gang (hypocrites again).

Don’t you have a comment on my muslim theory. What really needs to stop is the Rights need to send our military (and it is predominately RIGHT) to defend the lefts filthy habits and liberalism.

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JoshA said on March 1, 2008 at 11:52 am

Nancy, you did a good thing here. People must be accountable for their actions. Telling Goeglin in private, as Walter Williams suggests, would have allowed someone who had stolen the work of others for years to simply walk away, wait for you to stop watching, and do it again.

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jjcomet said on March 1, 2008 at 11:55 am

Wall –

Your friend – who claims to be a professional writer – made his own bed by repeatedly and shamelessly plagiarizing the work of others. Aside from libel, there is no more serious breach of journalistic ethics, yet you seem to think he deserves a pass. Why should this man keep his job if he must stoop to stealing the work of others? And why should admitting his deed after he has been caught and publicly outed bring him any kind of reprieve? If he was really concerned about keeping his job so that he could support his family, he would have made an honest effort to write original material. He didn’t. He lazily copied other writers – over and over again – and appears to have assumed either that he wouldn’t get caught, or that he would be excused for his plagiarism if he did. His family should be furious with him for cavalierly jeopardizing his job – and their future – by his reckless and irresponsible behavior. It’s pretty pathetic of you to try to make the person who brought his misdeeds to light the “bad guy.” Of course, that’s par for the course for modern “conservatives” – for more outraged that the crooks in their midst are caught than about the deeds they committed that led to their downfall. Here’s a hint for your friend – if he wants to keep his job, perhaps he shouldn’t engage in acts that amount to professional suicide.

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cha cha cha said on March 1, 2008 at 11:55 am

“I am condemning the obvious “blood lust” which was brought to bear in bringing his about his resignation. It is shameful.”

i totally agree.
personal responsibility is shameful.

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Jeff said on March 1, 2008 at 12:00 pm

What struck me is the hateful vitriol from Nancy over the sin of plagiarism. Her rant went beyond the acts. She pulled in all the innocent and slashed away. Tims parents must still be married and he must write about his perception of an idyllic home life. This must knaw at Nancy with the way she hates him.
Just like a liberal, don’t be humble by commenting and then let go.

I’ve learned a lot by watching Liberals and its time to adopt their tactics for the right. To hell with the other cheek – Strike out and Let God sort em out.

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Danny said on March 1, 2008 at 12:00 pm

William, as a conservative, my concerns are more with cleaning my own house than saving face. If you consider yourself one, you should feel the same. Twenty-plus articles so far? I mean, come on, man.

And Nancy is not responsible for the “blood lust.” Even the blood lust on this web site is not her fault. It’s just how things are these days, sad to say.

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Marlys said on March 1, 2008 at 12:01 pm

Mr. Walters: The revelation of Goeglein’s thievery would be a “smear” only if it were not true. Further, your contention that Goeglein is somehow to be commended because he “took immediate and full responsibility for his actions” is laughable. He got caught *but good*, with such strong evidence of his guilt that there’s absolutely no chance of plausible denial.

If Nancy had, as you suggest, gone quietly to the newspaper with her evidence, the outcome would have been precisely the same: The paper’s policy of transparency requires it to inform readers and apologize to them. Goeglein’s dishonesty took place in public, and it’s proper for it to be revealed there as well.

The situation Tim Goeglein created is nobody’s fault but his own.

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Danny said on March 1, 2008 at 12:03 pm

Jeff (not our Jeff), you should put a sock in it. You’re a crybaby and a phony. Maybe go bowling with some of the crybaby liberal phonies that are posting in this thread. You have more in common than you know.

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Andrew said on March 1, 2008 at 12:04 pm

Good work, Nancy.

To those posting who know and like Mr Goeglein, I’m sure he’ll be cheered by your expressions of support. There are logs in all our eyes, and turning away a friend with a mote in his own eye is not the action of a friend.

To those of us who are bystanders, there’s a genuine “what was he thinking” feeling. Goeglein was making a living, in part, from his use of words – and to make that living on the back of other writers, without attribution, serially and flagrantly, is poor form. I applaud Nancy’s (and other posters’) work in bringing this matter to light.

It’s fascinating that NRO has had to edit Mr Goeglein’s tribute to W F Buckley. The number of citations in his post lead me to suspect that the initial tribute may have been, um, leaner.

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Jeff said on March 1, 2008 at 12:05 pm

To jjcomet
Journalistic ethics, my God what a joke to apply that to the drive-by liberal print media.
Man LOL say it again. Journalistic ethics, the stinking left DOES NOT HAVE ANY ETHICS.

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michaelj said on March 1, 2008 at 12:05 pm

Jeff,

So, when the most egregious Constitutional Criminals in American History leave office, you’ll be there with the classic and obligatory torches and pitchforks? Right? Yeah, right.

Now that’s hypocrisy worthy of enshrinement in the Hypocrisy Hall of Fame at SMU.

I am condemning the obvious “blood lust” which was brought to bear in bringing his about his resignation. It is shameful.
To the extent there is any “blood lust”, can you blame us? Every person associated with this “administration” should be punished, and frankly I don’t care how. Hundreds of thousands have died because the Dear Leader lied us into a war that did not need to be waged. The Constitution is in shreds. You conservatives, in typical fashion, spend your time getting society to re-fight battles that have been won – abortion, civil rights, et seq. Why should there be a debate about whether we should torture? The answer is known. If you voted for Bush you are the one who should be ashamed. Any sentient being could have predicted that a man who had failed at everything he had ever done would damage this country. Secretive, bloodthirsty, and dishonest, Bush and his administration will go down in history as the worst thing ever to happen to the United States. With luck, Bush has driven a stake into the heart of the hideous warmongering Republican party. You should be ashamed for defending anyone who has enabled this administration.

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Jeff said on March 1, 2008 at 12:07 pm

AHHHH DANNY BOY
If you think I’m a liberal then your an idiot just like the Prfesident I put in office twice. Tell me something of you beliefs if you have any guts. I can see the filth on both sides. And I call it such

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Grytpype Thynne said on March 1, 2008 at 12:08 pm

Mr. Walters:

Tim Goeglein lied, cheated and stole his way into a job. Absent his lying, cheating and stealing, some reputable journalist with a family to support, rent to pay and food to put on the table would have been gainfully employed.

Goeglein stole that job from a decent person with kids to feed.

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Grytpype Thynne said on March 1, 2008 at 12:09 pm

“just like the Prfesident I put in office twice. ”

Antonin Scalia???

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Jeff said on March 1, 2008 at 12:13 pm

“just like the Prfesident I put in office twice. ”
Well cmon cowards have made mistakes in your voting or are you proud of the cigar sticker in chief and the wench that allowed it in her home?

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sue said on March 1, 2008 at 12:15 pm

Jeff! Our Jeff! Where are you? Get back here and shut your evil twin up!

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Danny said on March 1, 2008 at 12:15 pm

Hey, Nance. I was just thinking of good songs by which to read and comment to today. I’m thinking, Inna Gadda Da Vida. I’m just killing time until the pool opens. I hope your day is going well.

And I hope Mary’s job interview went well too.

Jeff, I’m a conservative.

Blogenfreud, did you write that post while listening to Surrealistic Pillow?

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Danny said on March 1, 2008 at 12:16 pm

Jeff! Our Jeff! Where are you? Get back here and shut your evil twin up!

Heeheh. I was thinking that same thing.

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Dale Darrell said on March 1, 2008 at 12:16 pm

William’s point is that if Ms. Nall went to Goeglein or the White House privately rather than publishing her findings, she could have forced Goeglein to resign privately and allowed him to find other work without revealing his misconduct. As a consequence, William claims, Ms. Nall is solely responsible for Goeglein’s children being unprovided for.

Yet this is inconsistent with William’s assertion that the White House acted immediately and took Goeglein full responsibility. If Ms. Nall had spoken privately with Goeglein or the White House, would it have been responsible (or taking full responsibility) for either to keep the matter quiet, without acknowledging Goeglein’s misconduct to his direct victims — the newspaper and the people from whom he stole? The newspaper, of course, would have an obligation to its readers (and the victims of Geoglein’s theft) to reveal the truth, and the people from whom Goeglein stole would be under no obligation to keep quiet.

Mr. Goeglein’s children will not be unprovided for. They have a mother. Mr. Goeglein can find work easily — Janet Cooke now works for a department store, Stephen Glass worked as a clerk for a judge and wrote a novel. States and charities provide assistance to those in need. Mr. Goeglein can provide for his children intellectually and spiritually by demonstrating that stealing is wrong and acknowledging wrongdoing is the responsible thing to do.

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Grytpype Thynne said on March 1, 2008 at 12:19 pm

Jeff,
I feel bad for good, red-blooded, sane, reality-based decent conservatives like Danny who are trying to clear the dirt out of their party and get back to a political debate in which both sides, for love of their country, propose what they believe are the best policies to make the country strong, prosperous, healthy and fair, because people like you are destroying the conservative cause.
Fortunately, decent liberals like me know that loudmouthed illiterates like you don’t represent decent conservatives like Danny.
I have policy debates with adults, not with petulant children.

However, I just want to say let’s lay off Hoagy Carmichael. Guilt by association aint right. Some songs on the Squaresville Jukebox are alright.

Just cause George Bush likes the Beatles up until they got weird (is that Rubber Soul? Revolver?) Doesn’t mean A Hard Day’s Night isn’t peerless too.

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jjcomet said on March 1, 2008 at 12:21 pm

Jeff –

Nice sidestep of the issue – Dancing With the Stars could use those moves. The ethics I was referring to were whatever ones Goegelin pretended to have when he accepted a job as a professional writer. Apparently, he had none, because he showed no reluctance to steal the work of others. I am still at a loss to see how anyone – especially one who loudly espouses “conservatism” and “conservative” virtues – can defend what Goegelin did. Conservatives scream to the heavens about taking personal responsibility for one’s actions, and about virtuous behavior, yet you rush to the defense of a man who was forced to resign his job because he was caught stealing the work of others? No wonder you scoff at ethics – you clearly have none yourself.

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I. Morris said on March 1, 2008 at 12:22 pm

Since Mr. Walters seems to be monitoring this site on behalf of Mr. Goeglein — and who knows who else — I’d be curious if he could share what his and his former colleagues feelings were when the White House’s concerns over Joe Wilson’s mission to Niger led them to handle the matter publicly, revealing his wife’s identity, leaving her jobless with two children and shutting down an operation designed to prevent Iranian nuclear proflieration.

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Colleen said on March 1, 2008 at 12:27 pm

he committed his crime in “public” via the newspaper, why shouldn’t he be called on the carpet in public? And I’m STILL boggled at 20 articles. TWENTY. This wasn’t “oh geeze, I had read so and so’s review and I must have accidentally quoted the piece in my work”. This was cut and paste. It was WRONG from the get go, and come ON, he had to know that. What hubris.

It never fails to blow my mind when someone does something CLEARLY wrong, yet some people still insist on seeing that person as a victim. Only of his own poor choices.

Given his age at the time, shouldn’t Clinton really be given the benefit of the youthful transgressions doubt, like his chief persecutors Dan ‘Scumbag’ Burton, St. Henry Hyde, and Newt? Seems only fair.

By the way, William Walters, your participle is dangling, you might want to zip up.

I’m curious, when you say “a former colleague and friend of Tim Goeglein”, does that mean you are a former friend and former colleague, or former colleague and current friend, or what?

And please do tell, how does one plagiarize at least 20 of 38 written pieces with honor? I have no doubt he is an honorable plagiarist, as plagiarists go, but has he emailed apologies to the other 19 people whose work he stole?

I can only hope some of the regs don’t let on what a jerk I really am.

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Danny said on March 1, 2008 at 12:36 pm

…but has he emailed apologies to the other 19 people whose work he stole?

No, I think he xeroxed them a copy.

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William Walters said on March 1, 2008 at 12:39 pm

To All:

The following is a STARK contrast to what today’s media has become. There’s a great deal to reflect upon in these enlightened words. Journalists, commentators, bloggers and others should take note.

“Mrs. Eddy had been thinking about a newspaper for a long time before 1907. Way back in 1883 she wrote: ‘Looking over the newspapers of the day, one naturally reflects that it is dangerous to live, so loaded with disease seems the very air. These descriptions carry fears to many minds, to be depicted in some future time upon the body. A periodical of our own will counteract to some extent this public nuisance; for through our paper we shall be able to reach many homes with healing, purifying thought.”

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Danny said on March 1, 2008 at 12:41 pm

Man, if Nancy has her Blackberry hooked up today, she better leave it plugged into the wall. And probably on silent mode too.

And JC. How are things in the engine room? I have this picture of you today as Mr. Scott from Star Trek. “Aye, Capt’n. She’s gonna blow antimatter containment any time now.”

Of course, the other famous Scotty quote that comes to mind is” “The best diplomat I’ve ever seen is a fully charged phaser bank.”

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William Walters said on March 1, 2008 at 12:43 pm

To Ashley;

Former colleague and current friend.

William Walters

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Danny said on March 1, 2008 at 12:45 pm

..for through our paper we shall be able to reach many homes with healing, purifying thought.”

William, I think it is purifying to “purge,” as it were. The first step to healing is recognizing you have a problem.

ED: And I think this could be good for your friend, Goeglein, in the long run. Depends on how he handles it.

When self-proclaimed Conservatives assert that the other side engages in smears against the pure of heart, I hear Lee Atwater rolling over in his grave, and it’s time to head out, crank up the kayak, and go looking for the first blackberry patches until these stale conversational winds change.

In 2000, ahead of the SC primary, we got calls indicating that, not only was John McCain the father of a bastard black child, he was gay. (And we’re registered Democrats.) I’d say it was a safe bet that tis calumny was directly traceable to Rove. Now McCain happily embraces W’s support. It’s encouraging that Republicans and Conservatives (whatever that means in the New American Century) have retreated from eating their own to a siege mentality under which even the most scurrilous must be defended. Did they kick Larry Craig out of Congress yet. Now there was a victim of the “drive-by” liberal press.

Move along folks, nothing to see hear.

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michaelj said on March 1, 2008 at 12:55 pm

William Walters Says:
March 1st, 2008 at 12:39 pm

Citation? (So, yeah, it’s about CSM, but who the hell said it?)

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Lamorial said on March 1, 2008 at 12:59 pm

Juxtaposed, isn’t the play on words “Goeglein” and “Google” rather ironic?

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Beth said on March 1, 2008 at 1:00 pm

I’ve been reading this blog for a long time and have commented a few times. I enjoy Nancy’s writing and the wry comments and feel as though I’ve come to know some of you through what you share. I’m glad that Nancy did what she did — it was brave. I’m sure it wasn’t pleasant to know that what she was about to do could result in shame for innocent people like Goeglein’s family. Regardless, he has no one to blame but himself. I’m worried though, about this little blog. Until now, people have been able to discuss their differences without lapsing into nasty name-calling. I’d hate to have to stop reading nn.com because it’s turned into Hannity and Colmes. Nancy, best wishes to you — I hope life doesn’t stay too crazy.

on a related note, rumor has it that a.g. mukasey will “privately” take care of all subpoenas, starting with miers and bolten.

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William Walters said on March 1, 2008 at 1:02 pm

To Michaelj:

David Cook, Washington Bureau Chief for the CSM, from a talk he gave several years ago refering to Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy – founder of the CSM.

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MichaelG said on March 1, 2008 at 1:06 pm

Well, we’ve heard a lot of the administration schtick now.

The liberals do it all the time.

I’m sorry for what happened.

It’s time to move on.

Release the news late on Fri. Although I must admit they acted promptly on this one instead of dragging it out day after agonizing day as happened in Fredo’s case.

Blame the consequences on the prosecutor, not the offender.

It’s a witch hunt.

Forgetting, as a commenter noted, the Plame affair, forgetting the unrelenting hounding of the Clinton family, forgetting countless other victims of the slime machine.

One of the signature characteristics of the Bushies and the Neos is hypocrisy. If there is any gloating, it’s over the reversal of fortunes suffered by a loud mouthed, sanctimonious hypocrite pure and simple. Mr. Goeglein positioned himself as cheerleader-in-chief of religion and morals in the administration. It’s tough to square his public posturing with his personal actions. Just as it was with Larry “Wide Stance” Craig, the renowned anti-gay activist.

Another signature characteristic of the Bushies and the Neos is that they can dish it out but they can’t take it. What a bunch of pusey little whiners.

Nance, I’ve always enjoyed the high quality of the commenters here. All praise to them and to you. Keep it up. I’m gonna want an autographed copy of the book.

Sorry to add to your server woes, JC.

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michaelj said on March 1, 2008 at 1:14 pm

Mr. Walters. OK. I was kind of kidding.
Seems this subject has been done in, and rational discussion is teetering on the precipice of invective (if it didn’t go over the edge some time ago). I’m never the voice of reason, but this is starting to resemble the Great Boston Molasses Disaster of 1919.

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William Walters said on March 1, 2008 at 1:17 pm

I’ve had enough of “mob justice” for one day – reminds me too much of the French Revolutionaries and their enlightened approach to justice. Angry drunken mobs entertaining themselves with wanton slaughter and shouts of “off with their heads.”

Congratulations Nancy!

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William Walters said on March 1, 2008 at 1:19 pm

Michaelj,

Thank you. I agree completely and applaud you for your acknowledgment. These are indeed difficult and dangerous times.

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MonkeyBoy said on March 1, 2008 at 1:27 pm

William Walters said:

March 1st, 2008 at 11:41 am
…
You do not see me standing behind the anonymity of my initials.

Hmm, I’d be more receptive to William Walters’ appeals “to handle ethical transgressions privately”, oh say, 10 years ago, when L’Affaire Lewinsky gave the conservatives a chance to exhibit their penchant for compassion, mercy and sparing one of public humiliation. Methinks that after the Clinton impeachment saga, the conservatives have lost their right to complain about Schadenfreude, ‘blood lust’, witch hunts, or politics of personal destruction — for at least the next 100 years. Sorry, Mr. Walters, you reap what you sow.

As to Mr. Goeblein’s ability to provide for his children, don’t fret: AFAIK, Faux News, Wash. Times and the Swiftboaters for Truth are still around, so Mr. Goeblein’s assured of gainful employment as a “writer”.

And should he decide to take a break from his prodigious cut and paste, there are plenty of other lucrative opportunities in Wingnuttia. One could always run prescription drugs for Rush Limbaugh, rub falafels on the breasts of Bill O’Reilly’s assistants, apply hair product to Sean Hannity’s, umm… head, or inject estrogen to Ann Coulter.

Another signature characteristic of the Bushies and the Neos, as exemplified by Mr. Walters, is that what they are accusing others of perpetrating is precisely what themselves are practicing. By all means, Mr. Walters, you are welcome to take your ball and go home if that is what you wish. Heaven forbid that anyone should see things differently from you.

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Scott P. said on March 1, 2008 at 1:38 pm

I have absolutely no doubts that he would have honorably acknowledged his action, offered his immediate resignation and appropriate apologies. No doubts whatsoever!

The only “smear” that has happened here would have been on Goeglein’s own computer screen as he copied-and-pasted the words of others into his own writings. If Nancy Nall is to be held to a standard of contacting the White House _first_, then should we not also expect _all_ writers and reporters to clear everything through the White House as well? How much transparency would that net?

The justice verburglars receive is meted by their own paltering of the public trust. They earn their own scarlet letter, and it rightfully sticks with them for the rest of their lives. The bigger the act, the brighter the letter.

Goeglein chose to do what he did. No one made that choice for him. His shame is his own. The smearing of his ink is by his own hand. Do not pretend to shift the responsibility for making bad decisions to Nancy Nall, because she did not guide his pen…she merely capped it in the public interest.

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Rusty Shackleford said on March 1, 2008 at 1:49 pm

William Walters – the job your dear honest moral friend lost is a job the lying stealing cheat should have never had. The plagiarist should feel lucky he doesn’t have to return every cent he earned while pretending to be something he’s not.

I fear for his children. To be raised by a thief can’t be a good thing.

That 4:42 am comment by “Tim Goeglein” is a wee bit creepy. How can Nancy tell if it’s from the real Tim?

As for William Walters of the LTAC Hospital Association showing up, what fortunate timing! Maybe he can tell me why Fran Townsend omitted any mention of LifeCare Hospitals and their 24 patient deaths post Katrina in her White House Lessons Learned report? Just two weeks before landfall, LifeCare was acquired by none other than The Carlyle Group, an infamous private equity underwriter with a Pennsylvania Avenue address. So far no one responded to my questions and Fran retired not long ago, citing fear of subpoenas as a reason for leaving “public service”.

The good news is the FBI is investigating Roger Clemens for testimony given one month ago. Yet, I can’t get them to look into a debacle nearly two years old:

Maybe, William will step up to the plate and be accountable on behalf of his industry brethren. One can have the audacity to hope…

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Lesley said on March 1, 2008 at 2:01 pm

I’m sure it wasn’t pleasant to know that what [Nancy Nall] was about to do could result in shame for innocent people like Goeglein’s family.

“Shoot the messenger” commentary slays me when it comes to criminals and hypocrites. If Goeglein’s family is embarrassed and ashamed, whose responsibility is that but his?

Btw, Lindsay Beyerstein has more on this not so benign asshole. Seems he’s done this many times before. Surprise surprise.

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Gary S. said on March 1, 2008 at 2:07 pm

Wow! If this is indeed thatWilliam Walters, then Sir, may I ask what the hell are you doing here, wasting perfectly good billable hours defending your friend on the net, when you should be hard at work drafting a book deal for Mr. Goeblein ?

You must know that this guy, clearly a bone fide Republican hero who was crucified by the vicious, “crazy left” blogosphere, has a story to tell that the conservative “readers” will eat up.

Hey, you could even parley it into a movie, preferably in Aramaic with Mel Gibson helming. And I even have the perfect title: “Nailed (to the Cross) by Nancy Nall”. (Dunno yet who should be cast as Mr. Goeblein, but Nancy Nall should definitely be played by Daily Kos — the perfect villain.)

P.S. I’m enjoying this too much… I should stop. Not!

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Beth said on March 1, 2008 at 2:09 pm

Sorry — didn’t mean to imply that Nancy was bringing shame on Goeglein’s family. I agree — the responsibility lies solely with him.

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r€nato said on March 1, 2008 at 2:15 pm

This may be difficult for a flying-monkey right-winger like yourself to understand, Mr. Walters, but the victim here is not Mr. Goeglien, the victims are the people whom he plagiarized.

By the way, how long until you begin investigating what kind of countertops Nancy Nall has?

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r€nato said on March 1, 2008 at 2:20 pm

William Walters Says:
I’ve had enough of “mob justice” for one day

I can sympathize. Most of us had enough of it 10 years ago but that didn’t stop your kind from trying to use a Constitutional coup to overturn the results of two elections whose outcome you didn’t like.

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A smarter Jeff said on March 1, 2008 at 2:33 pm

Jeff wrote – “The muslims hate America only because what the lowlife liberals are exporting here and abroad. They hate the abominations I mentioned above. As far as I’m concerned, I would invite them in this country to take care of the left, if only the muslims were intelligent enough to identify what they hate is NOT all Americans but —Liberal americans.”

Jeff’s main point in this paragraph;

I hate liberals for what they’ve done. Muslims hate America for what the left has done. If Muslims were smart, they’d know that it’s all the left’s fault. If Muslims were smarter, they’d be Republicans.

Well, at least now we know that Jeff here is rooting for the terrorists, huh?

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A smarter Jeff said on March 1, 2008 at 2:36 pm

“Did you bring this to the White House privately? Obviously not. Did you bring this to Tim’s attention privately? Obviously not. You executed him publicly with your own self-serving intentions in mind. Could you have forced his resignation privately – indeed you could have. You are not only in part responsible for Tim’s children being “un-provided for” – the greater collateral damage you intentionally created is solely your responsibility. That’s on you and no one else. Now that names were named you want to wash your hands. As I said before – shameful.

William Walters”

Yeah, I killed that guy. But if YOU hadn’t told people about it, my life wouldn’t be ruined. It’s YOUR fault.

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A smarter Jeff said on March 1, 2008 at 2:41 pm

“And please do tell, how does one plagiarize at least 20 of 38 written pieces with honor? I have no doubt he is an honorable plagiarist, as plagiarists go, but has he emailed apologies to the other 19 people whose work he stole?”

Yes, Ashley, I’m sure he has. But he probably just cut-and-pasted it 19 times.

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carole said on March 1, 2008 at 2:59 pm

Are you trying to get left-wing street cred, Nancy? Don’t you have something better to do than to obsess with Goeglein. You seem to have some scary extreme hatred for him.

Agree…it’s not good behavior on his part but I can’t imagine that this doesn’t go on more than you think.

Tattle tales never get ahead in the end. Remember Linda Tripp?

Take care, sweetie.

XXX,

Carole

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g said on March 1, 2008 at 3:16 pm

Great blog, Congrats Nancy, and what an interesting conversation.

I am curious about something William Walters said: “Did you bring this to the White House privately? Obviously not. ”

It seems wildly inappropriate to expect that a discovery of plagiarism in a newpaper should be privately brought to the attention of the plagiarists current employer (not a newspaper) and kept private from the actual newspaper where the plagiarism actually occured.

Is this how Mr. Walters thinks crimes should be handled?

If I discover a secretary shoplifting at Macy’s, I should quietly go to her boss at the office instead of alerting Macy’s?

Peculiar sense of ethics, Mr. Walters.

On edit – A Smarter Jeff puts it much more concisely than I. I salute you, sir!

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Jim said on March 1, 2008 at 3:24 pm

Mr. Walters, to those of us who have known of Tim Goeglein more than eight years, this was a well-deserved comeuppance. This is not an isolated incident. I celebrate this because it is proof that, in the end, justice prevails!

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Rheinhard said on March 1, 2008 at 3:33 pm

I am astounded at the unbelievable naivete (or is it shameless mendacity) of William Walters when he suggests that this could and indeed should have been handled “privately” by Ms. Nall going to the White House and quietly informing them of Goeglein’s actions. And he expects us to believe that if this hadn’t been made public that Goeglein would still have resigned a lucrative and well-connected post, and that the Rove/Cheney White House wouldn’t have taken any reprisal action to hush up the matter?

Ridiculous.

We have seen example after example to prove that in this Administration, the result of approaching them “privately” in this matter would have led to only one result: a directive to the United States Attorneys for Michigan and Indiana to investigate Nancy Nall and put her away on any pretext for as long a time as possible. This Administration is not led by honorable men, it is led by men who do not forgive and do not forget. Bringing this matter to the attention of the public is probably the only way Nancy could protect her own personal safety and freedom.

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jimmiraybob said on March 1, 2008 at 3:43 pm

Nancy,

Thanks for exposing the lying fraud. As the conservatives are quick to point out, and on this one I agree, it was Tim Goeglein’s choice to cheat and it was a very poor choice and a long-term pattern of irresponsible and dishonest behavior. Now he’s being held accountable. He has only himself and his enablers to blame. If shame befalls him, his business/political associates, his friends, and his family then Mr. Goeglein and those closest to him will have to suck it up and make the most of it and, hopefully, he and his family will come out of this stronger. Maybe Mr. Goeglein will show better judgment in the future and not put so much and so many in jeopardy.

You have helped to preserve an even playing field for all who play fair and honorably. From the flyover American heartland that everybody loves so much, a hearty thanks for focusing the sunshine where it needed to shine most.

good work, nancy! blogtopia and yes, i coined that phrase, should do everything we can collectively to make sure you get the credit for this.

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Paul T. McCain said on March 1, 2008 at 4:03 pm

What happened was wrong, to be sure. Of that, there is no question.

But as I read through these comments, and the gleeful tone of the original blog post, I can’t help but make the observation that taking such pleasure in the failing of another bespeaks a smallness of character, and an emptiness of heart and soul.

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jimmiraybob said on March 1, 2008 at 4:05 pm

William Walters Says:
March 1st, 2008 at 11:21 am

Tim immediately took full responsibility for his actions.

One more comment, had he taken full responsibility for his actions he wouldn’t be in the pickle he’s in. He is now being forced to accept accountability. They aren’t the same.

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iMissMollyIvins said on March 1, 2008 at 4:06 pm

Thank you Nancy, for exposing the lies & criminality of The Naked Emperor and his minions. America needs more people like you.

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Apprentice to Darth Holden said on March 1, 2008 at 4:07 pm

William Walters is what we over at Eschaton routinely refer to as a wanker.

Nancy, superb work, btw. You deserve every last bit of attention you’re getting for this.

They need men for combat arms units. Plagiarism is not a disqualifying condition.

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Elissa said on March 1, 2008 at 4:19 pm

Congrats on the nationwide exposure! I read the article on one of the many news type sites I frequent and was MORE than a little surprised to see your name mentioned as the blogger who busted him! Keep up the amazing work.

Carole, Nancy’s regular readers know that she’s not pandering to gain street cred with the left. A Smarter Jeff and Danny ably defend true conservatives on this site all the time to keep it relatively apolitical. Nancy’s initial beef with Goeglein, I think, was that the stuff he was putting out, plagiarized or not, was “drippy and awful.”

I understand how Nancy might not just cut this short. She actedaccordingto professional ethics, for all the good that’s ever going to do when the people that own the world are entirely unethical. But couldn’t somebody just open another thread more felicitous and salubrious? This is taking on a seriously pale and foetid cast.

Look aholes, she was right. The nut of the offense is his embedment with the holier than thou and the Rovian seat of power. But how in the world do the Republicans get to be the Holier than thou? Look at their heroes and their heroes’ lame excuses. I think these things play out regularly in fringe and mainstream churches in the interest of the Republican Party every Sunday.

Fact is, Shock and Awe wasn’t ever authorized. If you think it was, please read the Authorization. These people were lied to at the top. They required a return with evidence. True, right? Who approved anything at all? Congress told the seedy little asshole he’d better come back with proof.

But what does this all mean? This a revoting development. Nobody ever actually approved the invasion. Obama sure as shit didn’t object in public. One thing, nobody ever approved the invasion without it going through el Baradei, and the moron press, and the idiots that serve as gatekeepers. Read what that shit said.

Now I figure Barrack is entirely aware of this. So is he lying his ass off? Fact is, for a fact, claiming Congress approved the invasion is ridiculous. Barrack didn’t have a vote. Had he, he would have been absent.

Well anyway, this forum needs a sharp slap. nn.c isn’t political place, although she’s a fine writer and no matter what she’s talking about an intelligent reader gets an idea. I guess if you favor Bob Seger you must be un-American.

For a Detroit kid, there’s Hideout Bob, and SRC and MC5 (and Third Power and any number of other good bands.). Somewhere at some mansion long torn down I think on Gratiot, there was a house.

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Jeff said on March 1, 2008 at 4:48 pm

“To a smarter jeff?”
Your a Lib and I doubt your intelligence. Churchill labeled Libs correctly.
“If you’re not a liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you’re not a conservative at forty you have no brain.” “WC”

As far as your interpretation of my muslim guesses- let it be, let it happen as you doubt and criticize.

Um, [koff] uh, this is, um . . . (Mom, can i change my name?), this is Jeff, the pastor/mediator/archaeologist Jeff in east central Ohio. Y’all other Jeffs are . . . would any of you care to class up and use the spelling G-e-o-ff? Geoff looks so distinguished on the page, don’t you think?

Ah, go preach at a mission conference for a day and come back to find the party barn jumpin’, that’s for sure.

I won’t say i’ve read thoroughly through the large and understandably diverse set of responses Nancy’s gotten here, other than to flinch each time i see a post headed “Jeff,” which tells me i should get one of those cool blog names.

Mr. Walters, my full name and identity can be found by clicking through and hunting no further than the masthead of my blogs, which is standard because this isn’t where anyone spends a bunch of time proving their bona-fides. I fully believe that a friend of Mr. Goeglein’s could feel defensive for a friend whom they still personally trust, but the bulk of reasoned comment here has had a point (and folks often on the internet know how to mentally sort for lunacy, like the way you and i both sort the day’s mail standing over the recycle bin).

The bother for those of us who make out daily living in whole or in part with words is that this is a form of theft all too often excused or even expected in professional life, and then there is the stray public act of plagiarism that becomes a massive detonation where folks get tossed all over the map. I think plagiarism should be treated like the theft it is, but certainly not as a capital offense.

On the other hand, going rates for columns if you can find a venue to pay (which was the case for the sources of most of Mr. Goeglein’s thefts) times a minimum of 20 major appropriations means we’re talking about the act of stealing anywhere from $500 to $20,000, which in Ohio is felony territory. That hasn’t come up much, but there it is.

I work as a free-lancer, doing newspaper, magazine, agency newsletter, educational writing, and grant applications. Everyone wants your skill when you can put words together coherently, and few want to pay for it. When people are happy to work for free, editors and executives are less willing to pay, or will hold out to pay less.

So two points — Tim Goeglein stole money from me, and Nancy, and anyone else who wants to put their skills out on the market and get fair recompense. He’s not the only plagiarist out there lowering the rates on us, but he’s a pretty darn public one.

And there should be an understanding even among Mr. Goeglein’s friends — this was the most desperate, flagrant, and extensive case of plagiarism i’ve seen, and i’ve caught a few in print and in teaching college undergrads . . . and that’s given that when you find one, you often find more, plus a tendency to adjust the truth to ease your way in other forms and applications. Ask any college official or professor.

Tim Goeglein did this as an official of the White House — look at the credit line on each column, which wasn’t “Tim Goeglein is from Fort Wayne and works on the eastern seaboard.” If this didn’t get aggressively handled and publicly repudiated, you undermine college and high school teachers who across the county are reporting that this kind of plagiarism, which is * easier * to catch today than it has been in the 20+ years i’ve taught college classes on and off (including seminary M.Div. students). This is a major problem, and if this was brushed off or minimized, you set that struggle back as well.

I hope Mr. Goeglein’s friends help him figure out why he did this, for so long, in so many venues, in an almost reckless “catch me if you can manner.” This is not a small manner, and i trust your concern will extend towards helping him deal with whatever demons pushed him to this tragic brink.

Nancy Nall didn’t lead him there, and she hasn’t pushed him over it. She pointed out the edge (losing a White House job is not going over the edge, losing your soul is). Don’t yell at her for scaring people with crazy talk about precipices — lead someone near you back to safer ground.

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Apprentice to Darth Holden said on March 1, 2008 at 4:56 pm

The instant the war in Europe was over, the Brits had the tremendous good sense to kick Churchill to the curb.

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michaelj said on March 1, 2008 at 4:59 pm

Nancy: If it’s worth a turd. Back when I was the smartest print guy in jrl 101, at the Henry Grady School. I was the editor of a one-off paper, a class project. In 1970, I think. We ran a clearly fabricated interview that was clearly true and got sued. Now, if you want to be from Detroit and include music, SRC is inestimable.

So I was the

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Jeff said on March 1, 2008 at 5:00 pm

Nancy I remember you on wowo many years ago which much of the public called the “Nall and Void Show”. Do you remember? I cant remember your liberal lawyer partner’s name. started with a G.

This started with Nall’s vitriol in kicking someone, on and on and on while the mans down. Only if he’s conservative, thats unbiased liberal ethical journalism. RIGHT

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William Walters said on March 1, 2008 at 5:02 pm

To Apprentice to Darth Holden:

Your facts are a bit skewed. The following from Wikipedia explains the end of Career career.

After losing the 1945 election, Churchill became the leader of the opposition. In 1951, Churchill again became Prime Minister before finally retiring in 1955. Upon his death the Queen granted him the honour of a state funeral, which saw one of the largest assemblies of statesmen in the world.

Here’s my 3 cents:
After writing and editing daily news stories for 29 years, I am consistently more leery of stuff written by older, erudite writers, the kind of writing that is almost “too good to be true.” The less editing it requires, the more it smells like a rotting pinata to me.
Guess I will take a green reporter’s reporting – flaws and problems and awkward syntax – because those drawbacks also have an air of honesty to them. I trust a reporter more than I do a columnist or “senior reporter.”
It’s their polish that often hides the dishonesty in their writing.

Uhh, I feel like I’m tiptoeing because I’m not a regular here and some of the other “guests” have proved themselves as rude assholes. But I thought y’all would want to know that not only is Nancy in the Washington Post, but two of your regulars are too: Kenosha Kid and Grytpype Thynne. Grytpype is mentioned twice. (The post credits them with being the first to discover the lying republican bastard’s other plagaries). There are links directly to their posts on this blog comments section.

Why do you feel it necessary to engage in name calling? I have not and will not smear you with unflattering labels. Are you unable to engage in a discourse with someone with whom you disagree without unnecessary name calling?

You continue to “conveniently” end Churchill’s career at the point in time that suits your beliefs without taking into consideration his re-election – why?

Plagairism is the least of Goeglein’s sins. At the behest of Karl Rove, he made phone calls which got me fired by one of the conservative groups, the Hudson Institute, for whom he was White House liason. Rove was worried about the political fallout of my denunciation of his Christian Right ally for making anti-Semitic remarks. Lots of documentation at my website.

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The Brothers Mulvey (Mostly the Elder) said on March 1, 2008 at 5:21 pm

Madre Mulvey just caught us up on your activities, and Pat and I both think its great. As young Patrick puts it, “I LOVE MY FAMILY!” You have yourself a proud godson and a jealous godson’s brother. As a fellow American, I thank you for putting a dent in the White House’s layer of plagiarist scum.

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Apprentice to Darth Holden said on March 1, 2008 at 5:22 pm

Walters: Because you have demonstrated, through your posts here, that you are a wanker.

Did I ever say that Churchill’s career was ended by being kicked to the curb in 1945?

See, you’ve further demonstrated that you are, indeed, a wanker.

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michaelj said on March 1, 2008 at 5:23 pm

Apprentice to Darth Holden Says:
March 1st, 2008 at 4:56 pm

Are you comparing W to Churchill? Odious. Intellectually stultifying. W is a pre-junvenile that was told he could preempt congressional restraints on whatever he did about Iraq. He chose the infantile Shock and Awe. If you read the alleged enabling legislation, he basically blew the binders on his actions out. It’s fine to say Congress approved his actions. Could somebody assess the Congressional requirements he was suposed to meet?

This is no shit.

But let me get back. When I was a kid, I fell in with a very beautiful kid, and we’d been separated by circumstance. Her name was Shirley, and this was in the Bahamas. Intelligence. I’m not joking about reading the so-called enabing legislation. Nobody enabled shit.

Jeff couldn’t be bothered to google Winston Churchill, and ended up misquoting him.

Actually, what Winston Churchill said was

Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has not heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains.

The fundamental idea behind conservatism is save that which is great, and preserve it. That’s why the great conservatives of the past, such as Teddy Roosevelt, were also great conservationists.

You obviously have no respect for the past, Jeff; you’re too lazy to bother looking up the quote. You obviously have no respect for those who read your words. Dishonesty and niggardliness are the marks of a “neo-con”, not a conservative.

It makes no difference how old a neo-con is. He has no heart, he has no brains, and he has no integrity.

I will thank you to stop defaming your betters by labeling yourself as a conservative.

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Gary S. said on March 1, 2008 at 5:27 pm

Paul T. McCain Says:
I can’t help but make the observation that taking such pleasure in the failing of another bespeaks a smallness of character, and an emptiness of heart and soul.

Oh yeah? Well, tell it to all your conservative Dittoheads, who have spent the last 17 years(!) gleefully inhaling, ingesting, imbibing, heck — absorbing through osmosis, every bit of juicy dirt on the Clintons, relishing with lip-smacking jubilation and near-orgasmic gratification every Clintons’ misstep, slip of the tong, minor faux pas or plain human misfortune.

No one was spared: Clintons’ friends, family, political allies, business associates, casual acquaintances — all were legitimate targets. Many were damaged or slandered — professionally, politically, economically, personally. For many in the GOP this was, and still is a sport, and way way better than sex.

Even now, Hillary’s recent campaign woes are met with an incredibly passionate, logic-defying hatred and Schadenfreude, even though the consensus is that McCain would fare better running against Hillary.

So, don’t you just love it when members of Republicanische Partei (and by ‘members’ I really mean: tools) dare to mention words like ‘character’, ‘heart’ and ‘soul’ — all in the same sentence ? These days, the only word I bestow on the GOP when reading pleas like Mr. McCain’s above screed is ‘Smallness’.

I’ll be open to reconsider in, say, another 40 years. This seems to be the natural cycle of things for the GOP. They work really hard to gain absolute power, then f*ck everything up so f*cking royally that the next thing for them is 40 years of aimless wandering in the political desert. Almost biblical, wouldn’t you say ?

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michaelj said on March 1, 2008 at 5:27 pm

William Walters Says:
March 1st, 2008 at 5:12 pm

You mean ‘Grasshoppa’, right? When you set out on the big lie, the big lie starts to turn on you and eat you alive.

Just a thank you from a random blog reader and nonentity of a blog writer…you have just done the most compelling demonstration of the power of the media+web…and the weakness of the current administration. I will remember both a good long while.

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Jeff said on March 1, 2008 at 5:30 pm

Hey Narley- I did google it- and pasted it- so stuff it you “wanka”

The concept and application of the quoted idea stands. So wank on

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Apprentice to Darth Holden said on March 1, 2008 at 5:31 pm

michaelj:

I’d never compare the deserting coward to Churchill. Only his drooling fanbois do that, and by doing so insult Churchill, who, despite his conservatism, was indeed a wit and an able leader in wartime.

In fact, I don’t compare the deserting coward to Hitler, because it’s a poor comparison.

Hitler was a decorated combat veteran.

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William Walters said on March 1, 2008 at 5:36 pm

Such vitriol from left and right – amazing! There’s little civil discourse in this thread friends.

Apprentice, he may have been kicked to the curb, the salient point is – that they recognized the mistake and brought him back and eventually buried him with highest honors. Is there anything wrong with acknowledging that?

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Apprentice to Darth Holden said on March 1, 2008 at 5:41 pm

One does not engage in civil discourse with fascists, Walters. Churchill knew this. Your attacks on Nancy in defense of a thief demonstrate where you stand.

The whining of “conservatives” when they’re given the Karl Rove treatment never surprises me. They’re crybabies. They can dish it out, but they cannot take it.

The Brits brought Churchill back when it was thought his style of leadership, and the policies he espoused, were felt necessary, and his leadership in WWII would have been recognized even if he never made a comeback, and justifiably so.

To reiterate a point: this comment editing feature is nearly as good as sex.

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MonkeyBoy said on March 1, 2008 at 5:50 pm

Nancy: – can you check your IP logs? I think the reappearance of William Walters is a fake – a troll who wants to dilute the discussion here to off-topic rants about Churchill.

Everybody else:, please stay on topic. Right wing trolls want to disrupt this blog so please don’t respond to them unless it is on-topic.

It is ok for Nancy to let some idiot posts remain just to show the ‘rational opposition’ to her post.

Harlos, in the footnote to this post is a link to the Churchill Centre which plainly claims Churchill never said any such thing.

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Jeff said on March 1, 2008 at 5:52 pm

Nall has quite a collection of kissing up idiots. I shall concede momentarily the fact that said earlier mention of “betters” were indeed “better fools”. I stand corrected and bruised but NOT shamed. This exercise has been a waste of an afternoon. I am certain you “better fools” shall continue in futility. I also suspect that not a single one of my betters has created a single American job in this country. Useless words and NO ACTION.

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William Walters said on March 1, 2008 at 5:53 pm

Apprentice, I am hardly a fascist.

The fact is you know nothing about me. Yet, you are more than willing to engage in name-calling and slander to support your position. I call for civil discourse and you, in turn, resort to untrue labels. Nor am I whining. However, you have resorted, by your own admission, to the Karl Rove “treatment.” Something, which I disagree with as well. As for Churchill – thank you for acknowledging that the British public brought him back precisely for his style of leadership when needed. They elected him their leader in both wartime and peacetime.

William Walters never said whether he worked for the LTAC hospital trade group. But he does lament the vitriol on this thread. What do you do Mr. Walters when you ask questions and they never get answered? Do you ever get frustrated or angry?

I took Mr. Walter’s advice two years ago, contacting the White House directly with my concerns about the grossly inadequate Katrina Lessons Learned report. No response. I wrote my elected representatives who sent form letters on the government’s actions during Hurricane Katrina. None would address the grossly inadequate Bush Lessons Learned tome.

I hoped William could help out, but I got the same thing from him as I did from Fran Townsend, silence. When it involves acutely ill patients perishing in dead hospitals, it feels much like vitriol…

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nancy said on March 1, 2008 at 5:58 pm

Guys, for the sake of our server, either take it to the e-mails or agree to disagree. I don’t mind a little wandering, but out-and-out thread hijacks tend to ruin the discussion for everyone.

You stated that Mr Goeglein was honorable. Could you tell me if he has indeed apologized to the 19 other authors from whom he blatantly stole his material? Once again, I don’t doubt his honor, I’m just trying to categorize it.

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tensor said on March 1, 2008 at 6:18 pm

Hello, I’m one of the first-time readers, referred by Atrios. Thank you, Nancy Nall, for exposing yet another criminal fraud, employed by an Administration which seems to employ no other type of person.

Thanks also, in a most backhanded manner, to Mr. William Walter, for his up-thread comments, defending the ‘honor’ of a thief, and for whining how the criminal’s children will now suffer. Sir, they suffer already; the head of their household is a lying, stealing fraud, utterly unfit to instruct them in the values all Americans should have. Too bad such considerations of morality count for absolutely nothing with you, or with any of your ilk. Morality and values are mere words, with which you bludgeon the rest of us; they have no application of any kind whatsoever in your own conduct.

No matter how many criminal acts the members of our political right commit, they continue to suffer from the delusion they can lecture the rest of us on morals. Mr. Walter, do you recall then-Gov. Bush’s sneering campaign promise, to “restore character and integrity to the Oval Office”? You now see how he did it: by hiring a criminal, a thief so obvious it took interested parties mere minutes to discover his crimes. What background checks did the Bush Administration perform on OUR public servant, before handing him large amounts of OUR money, to keep THEIR political supporters in line behind THEIR policies? Absolutely none, apparently. His job was to ensure support for their policies, not act in an honest or ethical manner. (Indeed, given the policies involved, it would seem obvious that honesty and ethics cannot be used to support them.)

To answer your own question, Mr. Walter, I suggest you establish a “Lying Bush Apparatchik Charity Fund”, and endow it generously with your own money, as a starter. Given the parade of criminals flowing from this White House, your Fund will need huge, constant donations. Perhaps The Heritage Foundation, or Richard Mellon Scaife, will assist you.

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Ba'al said on March 1, 2008 at 6:27 pm

“You executed him publicly with your own self-serving intentions in mind.”

He deserved to be executed very publicly, I only regret that there was no way to make it even more public. It makes the Baby Jesus cry. But don’t worry, he will be on the Wingnut Welfare gravy train before you have time to say Ben Domenich. After all, any crime is excusable if you’re a Bushie, especially one of the faith-based corps.

Has Mr Goeglein apologized to each of them, or has his legal council advised against it?

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William Walters said on March 1, 2008 at 6:42 pm

Ashley,

When I was asked if Tim Goeglein would have resigned had he been confronted privately, I said:

“I have absolutely no doubts that he would have honorably acknowledged his action, offered his immediate resignation and appropriate apologies. No doubts whatsoever!

I have known him personally and professionally for over 8 years.”

The following excerpt is from the NY Times:
“It is true,” Mr. Goeglein wrote in an e-mail message to another Fort Wayne newspaper, The Journal-Gazette. “I am entirely at fault. It was wrong of me. There are no excuses.”

He said he had apologized to the author of The Dartmouth Review article.”

An excerpt from CNN follows:
“Goeglein said he has reached out to the author, Jeffery Hart, whose 1998 writings in the Dartmouth Review he copied nearly verbatim. “I have written to Jeff to apologize, and do so categorically and without exception,” he says.”

“Hart, an author and former professor at Columbia and Dartmouth, said he received Goeglein’s e-mail apology Thursday. “I told him I was flattered he’d used it. It doesn’t damage him in my estimation at all. I’m glad he spread the word.”

“But Hart said he wasn’t condoning plagiarism. “If it came in an academic context, it’d have to be dealt with,” he said, but he feels this situation is different. “I think stuff flies around on the Web, in journalism and so on.”

Ashley, I do not know if Tim has apologized to the other 19 authors, but knowing him as I do, I would bet the ranch he is working diligently toward that goal.

I don’t know how one categorizes honor Ashley. Tim has, no doubt, experienced the worst day of his life and has demonstrated to me – true remorse.

Kicking this man while he is down serves no noble purpose.

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trick said on March 1, 2008 at 6:42 pm

Whew! Just finished reading all 462 (and counting, counting, counting) responses to Nancy’s thoroughly professional blogpost (Remember that, folks? Wayyy back yesterday?), and I have to second Greensmile’s compliment about showing us all “the power of the media+web” . . . Nancy, you and your cybercolleagues are to be congratulated and, I hope, emulated . . .

I’ll only add that I’m one of the almost four dozen staffers who took a “buyout” (translation: Better leave before we lay you off) late last year from the newspaper that Jack Kelley hoodwinked a few years ago with his own form of in-print misdeeds — making up stories, quotes, sources, occurrences, etc., not to mention recruiting people to help him lie about it. (http://www.usatoday.com/news/2004-03-18-2004-03-18_kelleymain_x.htm)

In recent years, months, weeks, many in the dead-tree media have bemoaned the rise of blogs as a poor substitute for putting actual reporters and editors on the job day after day. But many of us also have missed (and misunderstood) the blogosphere’s instantaneous way of spreading the word AND digging deeper (props to your faithful readers and collaborators, Nance) with real investigative reporting ability, while hosting the most amazing running commentary and conversation about it all.

I came to NN.c a couple of years ago at the suggestion of my sister, a fellow journalist and very big fan. It has become a daily part of our lives for all sorts of reasons. And this week, it has shown the value of thorough, detailed and professional just-plain-reporting.

So as the off-topic rants and partisan screed continue to fly, let’s not forget what this was way back at 7:38 a.m. on Friday: A news story worth reporting.
Nancy, keep showing the rest of us ink-stained (and carpal tunneled) wretches the way . . .

A (too) long comment of mine got bogged down a bit in the ether and has popped back in the queue when i threw it in; my sense of why there really isn’t any “kicking this man while he is down” is stated there.

If this blogfest goes on through next week obsessing on whether or not Mr. Goeglein can get a job as assistant for PR at a Goodwill or United Way someday, then you might have a point. But i hope you’ll review what i observed back a bit on this thread.

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g said on March 1, 2008 at 7:01 pm

“I have absolutely no doubts that he would have honorably acknowledged his action, offered his immediate resignation and appropriate apologies.”

Mr. Walters, had Nancy Nall done as you suggested, and bring Goeglein’s plagiarism privately to the attention of the White House, he may well have done as you suggest here. However, he would have had the luxury of doing so without anyone else knowing about it – in short, his wrong-doing would have been hushed up and he could have gone on with his liberty to write newspaper columns – and plagiarize – intact.

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William Walters said on March 1, 2008 at 7:10 pm

g.

There has been no luxury anywhere in this story. It is a tragedy without apparent end. Too many here are willing to throw stones even after a resignation has been tendered and apologies made. A private solution would have robed the stone throwers of their chance to pile on but, that does not mean justice would not have prevailed. Remember G – Justice and Mercy go hand in hand – one without the other yields undesirable results.

>>>>I am certain you “better fools” shall continue in futility. I also suspect that not a single one of my betters has created a single American job in this country.<<<<

I’ve read almost every one of these comments, agreeing with many and lamenting the crudeness and vitriol contained in others. That’s par for the course in internet threads like this. But this comment gave me more pause than most. What kind of absurd standard is implied here? Is this poster suggesting that one cannot expose a fraud in the upper levels of our government without having first created an American job?

That’s a pretty mighty disconnect. I never heard the name Nancy Nall before yesterday and don’t really have a dog in this fight, other than having worked in journalism for 22 years.

But I think it’s a stretch to think that one has no moral credibility or authority to expose a plagiarist like Mr. Goeglein without having first proven his or her “worth” to our country’s gross national product. That’s just downright silly.

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Linda said on March 1, 2008 at 7:19 pm

I hate to sound as cynical as I will now, but when people talk about mistakes and tragedy and mercy, you can bet a white, well-to-do person made a serious cock-up. I’m sorry, but most people do not speak that way when some ghetto schnook gets caught with a couple rocks of crack, even when they are for personal consumption, and nobody will be hurt by them but him. And pretty much nobody on the conservative end of the political spectrum will give such a person any mercy at all.

“Now that you have assisted in the destruction of his career, are you big enough to step up and offer your support to his family? I do not fault you for holding any public servant’s feet to the fire, but your manner of execution is shameful.”

William Walters, shame on you for trying to put shame on Nancy.

To pass off other people’s words and ideas as one’s own is the second-most dishonorable thing a writer can do. It is a trick played upon the public. And a plagiarist ought to be exposed and condemned publicly.

Mr. Goeglein’s actions alone led to his joblessness, and caused his family this distress. His actions alone have brought disgrace upon him.

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William Walters said on March 1, 2008 at 7:27 pm

“There is no mercy among fools nor justice among the vindictive. Be not vindictive fools lest one risk the consequences.”

Good night all.

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Rheinhard said on March 1, 2008 at 7:35 pm

Mr. Walters – I would very much like you to answer two questions for me.

1) How exactly do you propose that Nancy could have “quietly” brought the matter to the attention of the White House. Maybe you have Karl Rove’s private number or something, but for most of the rest of us proles, the conversation would go something like this:

*RING* “Hello White House phone office”

“Yes , I’m a midwestern blogger you’ve never heard of and I’d like to make a charge of plagiarism against the special assistant to the President. Could you patch me through to the ethics ombudsman or the Chief of Staff please?”

“ummmm, yeah sure we’ll get right on that”

*Click* Wacky leftist bloggers!

Seriously I’d very much like to know how you think a random citizen with no contacts inside the GOP machine contacts the white house “privately”. I have been a citizen of this country all my life, attended an Ivy League university, and consider myself pretty well informed. And I have no idea whatsoever how to lodge a plagiarism complaint against a top aide to the president “privately”.

2) Considering the ample evidence of this Admistration’s abuse of various branches of government and the media to punish critics or staff it considers insufficiently loyal (e.g., the Attorneys purged for not prosecuting enough democrats, the outing of CIA covert agent working on WMDs because her husband was critical of fantastic claims in the runup to the war, the coordinated attacks against former high officials like Richard Clarke and Anthony Zinni who have traded on their foreign policy and military expertise to criticize White House policy, and on and on…) how do you suggest that Nancy could have protected herself when, after approaching the White House “quietly” with this evidence that no one else yet knew about, they directed politicized US attorneys to harass her, lodged defamatory articles against her in a compliant media, and sent lap dogs like Michelle Malkin to sniff through her personal affairs (as she did in the case of 12 year old Graeme Frost, who spoke out about the President’s opposition to Children’s Health Care)? Unlike you, many of us do not believe this Admin. to be comprised of honorable men, and would fear for our personal and professional safety if we were to run afoul of men like Karl Rove, who is known to have said of a political opponent “We will f**k him like he has never been f**ked before!”?

William Walters said:
“There has been no luxury anywhere in this story. It is a tragedy without apparent end. ”

Spare me your crocodile tears, Walters! Where was your Christian Charity when Clinton was being impeached for lying, once, about something which couldn’t POSSIBLY be more inconsequential? You didn’t just criticize him, you IMPEACHED him — tried to remove him from office!

Then you have the AUDACITY to say “Justice and Mercy go hand in hand”?

The only “tragedy without apparent end” is what the evil, EVIL Republican party is doing to our country.

— faye kane, homeless brain

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Tand in NC said on March 1, 2008 at 7:38 pm

Nancy — BBC News website excerpt: “The plagiarism was brought to light by a blogger, Nancy Nall, who posted a comparison of a Goeglein column with a Dartmouth College essay by Prof Jeffrey Hart on the goal of education.”

Goeglein lands himself a cushy job on the neo-con gravy train and the guy is too damned lazy to punch in and write his own rants?

And really, how hard can it be to write wing-nut rants? Make stuff up, toss in some tragic anecdotes and blame liberals for anything. End of column.

At least he didn’t deny reality after being caught dead to rights with irrefutable evidence. That’s what you call wing-nut “honor.”

If he hadn’t been publicly exposed, Goeglein undoubtedly would have quietly resigned in the dead of night in order to “spend more time with his family,” only to show up somewhere else in the wing-nut welfare system, proudly trumpeting his past Whitehouse employment.

Now he can apply for a job at Xerox.

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Kevin Knuth said on March 1, 2008 at 8:03 pm

William Walters:

Your wrote: “I have absolutely no doubts that he would have honorably acknowledged his action, offered his immediate resignation and appropriate apologies. No doubts whatsoever!

I have known him personally and professionally for over 8 years.”

You first sentence should read “I have absolutely no doubts that AFTER HE WAS CAUGHT….”

See, he is NOT honorable….if he was, he wouldn’t be in such a pickle.

You conservatives crack me up. You simply cannot admit HE DID WRONG!!!!!!

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corporal waldo said on March 1, 2008 at 8:49 pm

Sincere congratulations Nancy, this has been an extremely educative thread. The power of the Internets is once again confirmed, the corruption of all aspects of the bush admin once again exposed, the willingness of conservatives to attempt to justify and ameliorate their own criminal behaviour once again on dispay. A couple of questions:

Over what period did these incidents of plagiarism take place?
Given the defendant’s Government position, do criminal charges apply?

As for ‘William Walters’ and his ilk, you may be satisfied with an apology but I think that in this case, as in the case of so many of criminal bush apparatchiks, sorry doesn’t cut it.
Most criminals say sorry when they’re caught; it’s the Ted Haggard technique. Lie, thieve, shove your hypocrisy down people’s throats, use your position to promote a political agenda and to take naive people’s money while all the time being a snide, valueless pervert. Then when you’re exposed, “Oh, I’m sorry, the devil made me do it, pray for me”.
Tim Goeglein is just the latest bush facilitator in a long line of bush poltroons to be exposed as hypocrites, liars, plagiarists, propagandists, faux religious scam artists, paedophiles and traitors to the true spirit of America.
He should join his compatriots at http://citizensforethics.org/execcorruption

Let us now return to our regular programming, in which we regular readers trust Nancy to keep an eye out for His Horndogness…

(And, Nancy? as a writer and editor, I agree with the “high fives” assessment. Screw all the political to-and-fro, this is about the basics: stealing and lying.)

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Suzi said on March 1, 2008 at 9:23 pm

thanks a lot, now this asshole will probably come back to fort wayne and get underfoot. probably team up with matt kelty, (another self-annointed champion for jesus) who also seems to think the rules are for everybody else.

nice work, nancy!

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michaelj said on March 1, 2008 at 9:31 pm

Nancy. If you decamp because this is insufferable. Well. I’m figuring you do something like I do and rered Count Zero. No but what the hell. I’d like to wake to something more salubrious. Or more interesting:

Palate Cleanser:This is fascinating, I think, and very well-written. To me, Wikipedia
is sort of a guilty pleasure and the lazy way out if you’re trying to find out about something. But it’s a hoot, and I figure I’m well-informed enough to take some of it with a grain of salt. On the other hand, some vestige of some sort of intelligence.

This is a long national nightmare. You can’t be more ignorant than Bush. Sorry, You can’t be more ignorant. It’s actually impossible.

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db said on March 1, 2008 at 9:39 pm

Mr. Walters: The dirty deed — plagiarism — was done in public. It did not deserve a private disclosure. Plagiarism is a public act; it cannot be cleansed in secret. It is an offense against not only the publisher, but the publisher’s readers. Public accountability is crucial. Handled privately, the paper may have concluded that there was no reason to tell its readers about this fraud. It’s happened that way before.

Further, Nancy Nall did not get this guy fired from his unrelated job. I would have thought that the Bushies, tolerant as they are of felonious lawlessness, would have slapped the poor boy’s patty for this relatively less serious offense. They, not Nancy, pulled the trigger.

Blame the White House for his firing. Blame the writer for his misdemeanors. But Nancy Nall did exactly the right thing.

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michaelj said on March 1, 2008 at 9:43 pm

Is Fort Worth supposed to be Ground Zero. These assholes have trashed the Constitution of the United States. Nobody in the heartland seems to understand. Look. if y’all are willing to put up with signing statements, y’all are assholes and idiots.

“Handled privately, the paper may have concluded that there was no reason to tell its readers about this fraud. ”

db, Mr. Walters did not recommend that Nancy go to the paper in private about the plagiarism. He recommended that she go to Goeglein’s employer – the White House – in private. In other words, he recommended that she should not have alerted the paper about the plagiarism that was published in its own pages.

I think that he was a guy who wanted to be taken seriously for his writing but he lacked the ability or patience required to realize his dream. So, he took the lazy way out. Anybody who has taken even one journalism class or ever written a term paper understands crediting sources.

There is NO part of this that anybody should consider your fault. I tried to read all of the previous posts and I think this story is simple. He cheated. He got caught. End of story.

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WhiteBeard said on March 1, 2008 at 11:08 pm

I hate you! Shame on you for exposing a thief and compelling me to quit my retired ritual of playing card games, watching a DVD movie or reading the news wires online.
Instead, I became obsessed with reading all of the comments on your wonderful expose and then diving into your previous observations on the media where I have toiled for the past half century and enjoyed the newsroom politics.
I was aghast at the inclusion of comments in newspaper stories online (I agree that the electronic presentation is much easier to decipher than crayon scribbles on paper towels).
But it is a new world we live in with “Internets” and blogs quickly shedding and shredding the emperors’s new clothes and unmasking the thieves and scoundrels who lift others’ thoughts.
When I first started in the radio news end I was handed an “incredible” short story and asked as a writer what I thought about it. My reply was I liked it better the first time and was told that was a horrible accusation and I should prove it.
It took me 20 minutes in the local library to find the original in a science fiction anthology; it was not an exact copy, the name of the lead character was changed in the retyping and that was the only change (even the typos were included).
No, really, I don’t hate you, just the opposite, and I plan to use your caffeine-free blog to start my day from now on.
Keep up the great work.

My favorite William Walters line so far (although I’ll confess I haven’t read them all):

“Now that you have assisted in the destruction of his career, are you big enough to step up and offer your support to his family?”

Generally the left part of the political spectrum has supported a stronger social safety net than the right has. We do have AFDC, WIC, and welfare-to-work programs to some extent still, despite what Bush has done to them. If Mr. Walters considers them inadequate for his friend and colleague, he might consider supporting their expansion.

Another moneychanger dragged from the Temple. Still crowded in there, but you do what you can.

Good work, Ms. Nall.

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tensor said on March 1, 2008 at 11:56 pm

“I don’t know how one categorizes honor Ashley.”

But, you’re willing to lecture the rest of us on our supposed lack of honor! I’ll give you this, Mr. Walter: you’re the first apologist for a lying, right-wing hack to admit he has no idea what the word ‘honor’ means. A pity your self-admitted ignorance of all things honorable did not prevent your lecturing us non-criminals on that subject. Alone amongst moralizing right-wingers, you almost earned some pity from decent folk. Almost.

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white_n_az said on March 2, 2008 at 12:02 am

William Walters says…Did you bring this to the White House privately? Obviously not. Did you bring this to Tim’s attention privately? Obviously not. You executed him publicly with your own self-serving intentions in mind. Could you have forced his resignation privately – indeed you could have.

Dear William Walters,
I think this is a case of you reap what you sow. The Right likes to talk about personal responsibility, yet you have blamed Nancy for not taking this to the White House directly. I would like to know how that would have played out? Would Nancy find herself in an I.C.E. detention center to keep her and this story quite? How far are you willing to trust this Administration?

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john said on March 2, 2008 at 2:10 am

Let me sum this up for all of you that lean too far left or right to see things clearly.

Tim was a writer. Tim was caught plagarizing. Tim lost his job. The end.

Perhaps if you aren’t a writer you might not understand the gravity of the crime. But plagarism means game over. It is lying, cheating and stealing all at the same time.

Tim knew that. And suffered the consequences.

Nancy is not to blame. Tim is.

Yes, Nancy did bring this to our attention.

For that she deserves to be congratulated.

Conservative or liberal you can understand that looking the other way is not the American way.

And for those of you concerned with Tim’s sudden loss of income, {you don’t often hear that cry about people guilty of unethical behavior} you can rest assured that there is no shortage of need for bad writers.

Perhaps some romance novels Tim. I’d love to hear more about those opera fellas.

jh

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michaelj said on March 2, 2008 at 2:13 am

Please stop. There’s no way in the world the right wing apologist’s can take the high road. They invented the low road, and Lee Atwater admitted it on his deathbed. They ran with Swiftboat, when Kerry was an unadulterated war hero and W guarded the bar at the OClub and actually remembers part of it.

Conservatives, if there are any, are tinhorn turds that couldn’t fight their way out of an Iraqi paper bag, and they’ve been subsumed by New American Centurions. The Shortboat smear of John Kerry exposed the immortal stupidity of American voters. But, so what. Now that the assholes elected the worst Pretzeldent ever, have they learned a lesson? Probably not.

Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard. Either I made that up or HL Mencken did. But these recriminations have got to stop. It’s not Nancy Nall’s fault some Rove acolyte chose to plagiarize his ass off. You can’t divide it any way but one. It’s like Cheney and Halliburton. Crooks.

All that aside, this guy has some serious psychological problems. Made it really easy to get caught. And as for the holier than thou Conservatives:

Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.. HL Mencken said that, and sadly, these lemmings prove his point every day.

Honor? Running with the Swiftboat aholes, when you didn’t just dodge the draft, you skipped on the National Guard, that defines the opposite of honor. Pretty much defines the New American Centurions, whose idea of honor is filling mercenary coffers an torturing retarded guys like Jose Padilla.

Meantime, and at the risk of sounding like a YouTube whack, just leave Nancy alone. Let her get a good night’s sleep and write something in the morning about Kwame Kilpatrick that won’t get everybody’s underoos in a bunch.

One thing broached earlier that I’d like to see pursued: In your concern for Keep on Goeglein’s career and his family, do you still support the conspiracy in the heart of the administration to expose the covert CIA agent Valerie Plame. Simple question. Only simple answer required.

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nwgal said on March 2, 2008 at 2:22 am

Nancy – a well-deserved congratulations to you.
Tensor – I enjoyed a lot of the comments here; but none more than yours. Thanks for contributing.
William Walters – the fact that you demonstrate more disdain for the person who brought your friends many (many, many) misdeeds to light than for your friend’s behavior tells me that it’s futile to try to talk basic morality with you, as your moral compass doesn’t seem to be functioning very well.

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commie atheist said on March 2, 2008 at 2:29 am

“The president was disappointed to learn of the matter and he was saddened for Tim and his family,” White House press secretary Dana Perino said in a statement.
She said Goeglein had accepted responsibility and “has apologized for not upholding the standards expected by the president.”

…

The News-Sentinel said an internal investigation found that 20 of 38 of Goeglein’s columns published in the past eight years contained portions copied from other sources without attribution.

…

Goeglein has worked at the White House since 2001. He is a special assistant to Bush and deputy director of the Office of Public Liaison, serving as the administration’s liaison with influential conservatives. He was a right-hand man for former strategist Karl Rove when he oversaw the public liaison office.
Accepting his resignation, the White House gave Goeglein a warm sendoff.
Perino said Bush “has long appreciated Tim’s service and he knows him to be a good person who is committed to his country.”
She said Goeglein helped establish Bush’s Faith-Based and Community Initiative, his program for AIDS relief in Africa, and also played an important role in the confirmation of Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito.

Close your eyes and I’ll close mine
Good night Sleep tight
Now the sun turns out his light
Good night Sleep tight
Dream sweet dreams for me
Dream sweet dreams for you.

Good night Good night Everybody
Everybody everywhere
Good night.

But you really need the music.

Or, you could try the Beatles: Tomorrow Never Knows, though I’d recommend closing your eyes and listening, instead of the video. The main chord in this song is just a perfectly tuned guitar with no left hand. Or, you know, there’s All Things Must Pass.

At the end of the incredibly quotidian day, this thieving jackass will show up on Faux News to get paid for telling America why the Clintons and Obamas are despicable.
How they do.

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michaelj said on March 2, 2008 at 3:33 am

And this is who this dickhead really is, before anybody feels sorry for him. Kommissar Karl’s right nut.

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tensor said on March 2, 2008 at 6:59 am

“Wooo-eee! Tell him! Tell him, god dammit!”

“Tensor – I enjoyed a lot of the comments here; but none more than yours. Thanks for contributing.”

You’re very welcome. While I’d like to take credit for great rhetorical skills, all I did was throw their pompous, arrogant words back into their pasty, sagging jowls. Like a bellowing radio ‘host’ lecturing on the evils of drug use and divorce, they had it coming. In spades. All I did was flip the switch.

Now, will our (former) White House Aide on Morality And Faith be prosecuted for stealing the Pope’s words, or will a particularly exclusionist strain of Protestantism suddenly arise to save him? Inquiring minds want to know.

Hello, “Jeff,” and pardon me? I suspect from your perspective, i haven’t created an American job. So what’s my excuse for having an opinion on public policy? Over the last two weeks — taught American Cub Scouts how to tie knots and chip flint arrowheads (well, simple versions so far, it takes years to really learn); helped run a transitional housing program that houses 75 to 90 American homeless people a night, half of whom or more are American children; counseled back from truancy into regular school attendance five or six American high school students and their American parents employed by an American county juvenile court; preached four sermons at two American churches to their congregations on mission and outreach; worked on a grant project to improve how we teach thousands of visitors a year about a world-class American Indian archaeological site; taught two workshops for Americans who will direct and counsel at church camp this summer how to deal with child abuse issues when they come to light and to ensure such does not happen on our watch in America; served one evening as i do each month on our American community’s Board of Zoning and Building Appeals; made two community group presentations about a remarkable American who helped settle this area who was a veteran and chaplain in the American Revolutionary War; and wrote two columns for two American newspapers.

Yet i still think you have a right to express * your * opinion. Thanks for helping maintain the impression of the one-dimensional Republican. Idiot. (Lord, on this Sunday morning i repent of my frustration and head off to preach an uplifting, encouraging word out of your eternal hope to a bunch of everyday Americans. Amen.)

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William Walters said on March 2, 2008 at 8:53 am

To: NWgal – who ever you are.

Nancy has had a lot of “mean spirited fun” at Tim’s Goeglein’s expense over the last few months. But, her problem, she admits, is one of “personal taste.” She doesn’t like his “apple-cheeked Hoosier drippiness.” That being the case I think she shouldn’t have obsessed with his message but rather tuned him out. Most liberals would.

As for her up-front and pointed admission of engaging in “mean spirited fun” and supposedly “feeling bad about what she was going to do here” I don’t buy in.

Cats are doused with lighter fluid and set ablaze by “mean spirited” juveniles engaging in “mean spirited fun.”

I find her tactics shameful and repugnant. I invite a member of any main stream clergy to weigh in on this issue and bring enlightenment to this entire affair.

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William Walters said on March 2, 2008 at 9:07 am

To: TENSOR,

Nice try Tensor, but not quite. I told Ashley (“I don’t know how one categorizes honor Ashley.”) and you twist that to (“you’re the first apologist for a lying, right-wing hack to admit he has no idea what the word ‘honor’ means.”) You’ve gone from A to Z in attempting to validate your position. Congrats

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YellowDogJen said on March 2, 2008 at 9:23 am

Hey, thanks, William. The schadenfreude alone would’ve been enough for me (watching your oh so Christian friend implode has been a hoot) but your attempted defense of the lying cheating thief has been the icing on the cake!

BTW, was that him upthread making the threats, or did some enterprising wag steal his name?

Mebbe Mr. Goeglein could fone Scooter Libby or Tim’s good friend Rove for advice on how to get away with criminal behavior. Or he could call up ol’ Jay Rockefeller and get him some retroactive immunity.

For all of us who have known the truth these 8 long years about the Bush administration, who have watched in horror as this nightmare unfolded, damn straight we laugh and cheer whenever any of these criminals goes down.

Suck it up, dood. Your clown of a friend is a crook. I think he may have broken a couple of the commandments he’d no doubt like to see hanging in every courthouse and school.

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john c said on March 2, 2008 at 9:29 am

To William Walters:

I’m not a member of the clergy but I am about to drive my kids to Sunday school. For what it’s worth I studied theology under some of the finest professors in the world at Boston College.
This is what I do know.

When a person is found to be lying and stealing, it is appropriate to point this out. It is especially appropriate when that person is, a) a public official and, b) a person who holds himself up as a paragon of moral virtue.

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michaelj said on March 2, 2008 at 9:33 am

Cats are doused with lighter fluid and set ablaze by sociopaths, because they can, and by psychopaths, because they must. Oscar Wilde and Ambrose Bierce and Dennis Leary are ‘mean-spirited’. Jeffrey Dahmer and Bill Frist tortured animals.

Nice leap of illogic. Where do you place Ann ‘Rode Hard and Put Up Wet’ Coulter (not to be mean-spirited about it) on your compressed-to-the-point-of-unintelligibility scale of human behavior? How about George W’s mocking portrayal of Karla Faye Tucker?

Finally, do you really think your bud Goeglein is Candide buffeted by a cruel world? Let the jackass defend himself if he can. He’s a grown man. He knew he was doing something despicable and apparently didn’t care. I’m not a psychiatrist, but I think that’s a pretty good working description of a sociopath. Which explains a lot about his political associations.

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William Walters said on March 2, 2008 at 9:53 am

To: John,

Thank you John. Your points are true and I agree. However, this thread is riddled with perverse elements of “mob justice” – that is troublesome. As a societal phenomenon, “mob justice” bears rotten fruit. Whether incited from the Left, as did Stalin, or the Right, as did Hitler, leading the masses in calls for justice is a dangerous game practiced by the unscrupulous for self-serving gain.

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William Walters said on March 2, 2008 at 9:59 am

Michael J said”

“I’m not a psychiatrist” – on that note Michael I will view your comments accordingly.

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michaelj said on March 2, 2008 at 10:23 am

Gee whiz, Wally. I’m not a baker or a mechanic or a hack writer representing the most corrupt bunch of Constitutional arbatageurs ever seen in North America, either. You can take that comment accordingly, but if his plagiarism wasn’t sociopathic, your pal probably needs help to steer him away from self-destructive behavior.

Then again, maybe he’s just a True Believer in the New American Century and the philosophical motto of the Centurians: Rapio ergo sum.

You wrote, “Cats are doused with lighter fluid and set ablaze by “mean spirited” juveniles engaging in “mean spirited fun.”

While I disagree with your analogy (harming an animal in the manner you describe is illegal and immoral; exposing a government fraud is laudable and important), it’s a useful phrase nonetheless. As we all know, many studies have demonstrated that people who commit certain violent crimes started out committing acts of animal abuse as youngsters.

Obviously (and since we’re on an internet message board I will repeat myself: OBVIOUSLY) no one is accusing Mr. Goeglein of having committed anything of the sort. But I find it hard to believe that his plagiarism began the moment he started writing columns for the Ft. Wayne News-Sentinel. In fact, I’ll bet ten dollars that his college work contains instances of plagiarism too. Like the example you cite, this kind of intellectual duplicity doesn’t just happen one day at the age of 40.

I understand that you feel defensive for your friend and that is commendable. But as Mr. Goeglein told Salon.com (as reported in a story on mediatransparency.org), “If any American has broken the law and that American is running for the highest office in the land, that would certainly be an issue.” In that same story he is quoted as having told CitizenLink, “The president wants to make sure that the nominees he sends to the Senate are men and women of impeccable professional integrity who have a judicial philosophy rooted in a principle.”

Mr Goeglein was not simply a private person in a private business. He was an aide and advisor to the president of the United States, making very public statements, like those above, about integrity and trust, and even representing the White House at events such as the funeral of Jerry Falwell. Nancy Nall did not place him in awkward position relative to his public positions and pronouncements. It’s clear that he did that to himself.

You closed your post by writing,”I find her tactics shameful and repugnant. I invite a member of any main stream clergy to weigh in on this issue and bring enlightenment to this entire affair.” That might sum this whole debate up in a nutshell and illustrates the great divide here perfectly. I say this not flippantly and with due respect: I would be much more interested in inviting a member of the Harvard or Princeton faculty to weigh in on this issue and bring enlightenment to this entire affair. Mr. Goeglein’s deeds constitute years and years of intellectual fraudulence; I’m not sure how a member of the clergy can help here.

William Walters, I’ve followed Nancy’s critiques of Mr. Goeglein and others for some time. She’s also frequently criticized Detroit’s best known columnist, best selling author and panelist on a national cable show, wondering, in her own unique style, for example, whether anybody is allowed to edit his copy. That author also hosts a politically oriented talk show on Detroit’s biggest radio station and consistently advances a liberal Democratic agenda. (And, incidentally, became mired in a plagiarism scandal some years ago.)
When Nancy prefaced her post on Goeglein by acknowledging having engaged in some “mean spirited fun” at his expense, she was exaggerating, because, for her, anytime one publicly criticizes another’s writing it’s somehow snarky, and can be mean if done for improper motives. Nancy’s an equal opportunity critic, revealing difficult truths in an engaging and amusing manner. She’s a writer.
To liken her to a teenager who tortures animals is, as you must know, unfair.

You wrote, “Cats are doused with lighter fluid and set ablaze by “mean spirited” juveniles engaging in “mean spirited fun.”

While I disagree with your analogy (harming an animal in the manner you describe is illegal and immoral; exposing a government fraud is laudable and important), it’s a useful phrase nonetheless. As we all know, many studies have demonstrated that people who commit certain violent crimes started out committing acts of animal abuse as youngsters.

Obviously (and since we’re on an internet message board I will repeat myself: OBVIOUSLY) no one is accusing Mr. Goeglein of having committed anything of the sort. But I find it hard to believe that his plagiarism began the moment he started writing columns for the Ft. Wayne News-Sentinel. In fact, I’ll bet ten dollars that his college work contains instances of plagiarism too. Like the example you cite, this kind of intellectual duplicity doesn’t just happen one day at the age of 40.

I understand that you feel defensive for your friend and that is commendable. But as Mr. Goeglein told Salon.com (as reported in a story on mediatransparency.org), “If any American has broken the law and that American is running for the highest office in the land, that would certainly be an issue.” In that same story he is quoted as having told CitizenLink, “The president wants to make sure that the nominees he sends to the Senate are men and women of impeccable professional integrity who have a judicial philosophy rooted in a principle.”

Mr Goeglein was not simply a private person in a private business. He was an aide and advisor to the president of the United States, making very public statements, like those above, about integrity and trust, and even representing the White House at events such as the funeral of Jerry Falwell. Nancy Nall did not place him in awkward position relative to his public positions and pronouncements. It’s clear that he did that to himself.

You closed your post by writing,”I find her tactics shameful and repugnant. I invite a member of any main stream clergy to weigh in on this issue and bring enlightenment to this entire affair.” That might sum this whole debate up in a nutshell and illustrates the great divide here perfectly. I say this not flippantly and with due respect: I would be much more interested in inviting a member of the Harvard or Princeton faculty to weigh in on this issue and bring enlightenment to this entire affair. Mr. Goeglein’s deeds constitute years and years of intellectual fraudulence; I’m not sure how a member of the clergy can help here.

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de_tokeville said on March 2, 2008 at 10:32 am

Mr. Walters, I’m not a psychiatrist but I am in fact a veteran analysand. And I see by your persistence here that you are evidently as much in denial as your fallen comrade.

It’s no doubt frightening to realize that someone close to you could become so quickly unraveled due to his own self-sabotage; that his whole life has been predicated on a house of cards every bit as shaky (if not dishonest) as the world views he espouses. It’s probably making you doubt whether your own nose is clean, is it not? Why so defensive? Why so persistent in your defensiveness?

Not that I expect you to admit it, at least not until you’ve put in about a decade of introspection and come to terms with your worst demons.

Get some help. Then you and Tim can have the lives together you’ve always secretly yearned for. No more furtive rustling of the sleeping bags. And you’ll be doing a good turn for your respective spouses, who may still be young enough to find and appreciate real love. In turn, you’ll experience the true meaning of agape love.

If you read my posts, you will see that I have never condoned plagiarism by Tim, nor anyone else. Nor, am I defending it. What is interesting about this matter is that Tim himself is not defending or making excuses for his transgression. He made that perfectly clear. The White House made it perfectly clear as well that it would not condone the action either.

As for Nancy being a writer, that fact offers no excuse for engaging in “mean spirited” fun at anyone else’s “expense.” It is akin to low-road comedy at best. “Equal opportunity critic” aside, Nancy set herself up as a bully by framing her actions in the name of “mean spirited fun.” “Revealing difficult truths in engaging and amusing manner” does not require that it be done at the deliberate expense of others. Cheep laughs derived from deep hurt are not my cup of tea. Thank you.

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firsttimereader said on March 2, 2008 at 10:56 am

The Republican modus operandi these days seems to be to accuse others of the sins they are guilty of. W Walters likens Nancy’s exposure of Goeglin to torturing an animal to death. Haven’t I heard of stories of young George Bush shoving lit firecrackers into frogs and Huckabee fils torturing a dog to death? O well, I guess it’s OK if you are a Republican.

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white_n_az said on March 2, 2008 at 12:44 pm

William Walters…you have proven to be a good friend to Tim and I’m sure that he will thank you for this.

On the other hand, your continued posting here does little to douse the flames…in fact, it’s clear that it is counter productive to your intentions.

The fact is that Nancy did what she felt that she had to do and only she could make that call. That she used to work for the News-Sentinel made her more than a disinterested party. It meant that she had a connection to the notions of propriety and integrity of the News-Sentinel. Once the plagarism was discovered, the News-Sentinel was obligated to look at all of Tim Goeglin’s submissions and the 20+ submissions containing purloined writings meant that the outcome could not have been any different.

To now assert that somehow Nancy’s character is nothing more than an attempt to shoot the messenger…clearly the problem was your friend…why not go over to his house and comfort him instead?

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nwgal said on March 2, 2008 at 12:48 pm

Mr. Walters has been fascinating to read, as he provides a somewhat close-up look at the conservative intellectual stereotype. He has provided generous evidence of his own skewed moral code (see my prior post for a discussion of that) and several other posters have helpfully pointed out the enormous flaws in his tortured logic. And yet he perseveres, apparently steadfast in his conviction that his morals are superior and his friend is the victim here.
Arguing with the man is futile, as he has demonstrated that in this matter he is completely unprepared/unwilling to attempt to see beyond his personal reality and his fantastical (self)righteous indignation.
Wow.

Haven’t I heard of stories of young George Bush shoving lit firecrackers into frogs and Huckabee fils torturing a dog to death?
And they graduate to destroying entire societies. Cf. Iraq. Face it – if you voted for Bush the first time, you are merely stupid. If you did it twice, you have blood on your hands.

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deb said on March 2, 2008 at 1:00 pm

mild-mannered jeff, i just caught up to your last post, and i must say: dude. you rock.

This has been a paid announcement by the “Wally is not William” self-preservation society. 😛

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Jeff Boatright said on March 2, 2008 at 1:14 pm

I’ve been Senior Editor or Editor in Chief for a scientific journal for several years. We have to pay attention to issues such as plagiarism, double-publishing, data falsification, etc. I have some experience making decisions on what to do when transgressions are discovered.

I have to admit that I don’t understand William Walter’s point(s) on Goeglein’s guilt, though I do agree that there is a range of options when it comes to how to punish the guilty.

Goeglein (so far) is getting off easy. As far as I know, he’s only resigned from his job and been made fun of by various people who will probably have little impact on his future prospects. Who knows what the copyright holders and/or original writers are planning, though.

But back to Walters. Can we agree that plagiarism is theft? It may be theft of something you personally don’t value, but it is still theft.

Can we agree that committing theft 20 times suggests serial behavior? With no compunction for those being stolen from?

Possibly we can have a better meeting of minds if we use an analogy of theft of items that possibly you do value: If someone steals 20 cars, should I weep that he was caught? Should I weep that he will no longer be able to support his family and privileged lifestyle by committing another 20 thefts? Should I assume that he would have NOT gone on to number 21 if he hadn’t been caught?

I honestly do not understand the point you’re trying to make unless your point is that serial thieves have families, too, and that it is embarrassing to get caught thieving. Yes, they do, and yes, it is, but that doesn’t alter the fact that they’re serial thieves.

And again, so far, he’s gotten off very lightly for a serial thief.

So far.

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g said on March 2, 2008 at 1:20 pm

Mr. Walters, I am mystified by some of your statements. You say:But, her problem, she admits, is one of “personal taste.” She doesn’t like his “apple-cheeked Hoosier drippiness.” That being the case I think she shouldn’t have obsessed with his message but rather tuned him out.

So the problem here is that Nancy read and paid attention to Tim’s columns? And that it is somehow unseemly of her to continue to read and analyze them once she realized that she didn’t like them? That it would only be appropriate or ethical if the person who discovered Tim’s plagiarism was a fan of his work?

How curious. Is this “live and let live” approach commonly adopted by critics of popular culture on the right?

Considering how empowered Conservatives feel to denounce the words, images, and public actions of those they disagree with – from Whoopi Goldberg’s jokes to Janet Jackson’s nipple-slip, from Dixie Chick songs to Gay Pride parades – I find it amusing that you think its somehow unseemly for Nancy to mock the fatuous writings of your friend.

As someone upthread says, I think your sorrow about your friend’s fallen state has resulted in some kind of denial in your mind. You simply haven’t come to terms with what’s been revealed about his character, so you rationalize to blame others for it.

William Walters, I don’t think Nancy got any cheap laughs out of Mr. Goeglein’s situation, I know I didn’t. (At most there may have been some groaning chuckles at some of his (or another’s) overwrought prose some time back.) And though I think you went over the top in one of your posts, generally you’ve been thoughtful and restrained . . . so keep the good ones coming. And as for “mob justice,” I don’t think we’re there yet — a little closer to “The Wisdom of Crowds.” But you are wise to foresee a potential tipping point . . .

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tensor said on March 2, 2008 at 2:14 pm

“Nice try Tensor, but not quite.”

Sir, I stand corrected. Thank you for delineating my mistake; mine was a grave one indeed. In your tenacious (and ongoing!) defense of your friend, our tax-paid mendacious moralizer, you made yourself into a public defender of public theft– when committed by a public official, no less. You have amply demonstrated your utter incomprehension of the concept of honor, but you have not admitted to it; I should not have given you such unearned credit. (There’s been enough of that already! Please do not now insist you defend the man, not his actions. Actions make the man, sir.)

Our literate hostess told the truth; you called it a smear. (Did you really intend to make such a damning point about a denizen of the Bush White House?) She forced the resignation of a liar and thief from our payroll; you’ve equated her honesty with wanton cruelty towards animals(!). You even dragged that most rotted of cliches, putative concern for the welfare of children, into service for your ad hominem attacks. (Hence my original missive, showing how badly misplaced your concern for them really was.) Every accusation made my a modern right-winger is a confession in disguise, and your tenacious attacks upon Ms. Nall’s character, in defense of a comrade who has none, demonstrates this point nicely.

I thank nwgal for her excellent point, and will take the liberty of expanding upon it. This entire affair has exposed the enormous sense of entitlement enjoyed by our worthless, self-described guardians of morality, and their correspondingly tawdry practice of ethics. A candidate who insultingly promised to “return character and integrity” to our public office has, instead, given our money to a cheat. These crimes were not detected by warrantless wiretapping, or via waterboarding, or through infliction of pain equivalent to organ failure — measures done in our name, but without our consent, for a supposedly noble purpose. No, simple reading comprehension, and a minute of curious research, served to catch this crook. Either our mighty (self-proclaimed) guardians of morality lack these traits, or they knew of his thefts, and did not care. Given their own record of lying about far larger matters, I doubt we’ll ever really know.

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William Walters said on March 2, 2008 at 2:24 pm

Thank you Del,

I’m not so certain we are closer to “the wisdom of crowds” vs. “mob justice” but, either way there is a potential tipping point. I’ve had my say and agree to disagree with a good many posts in this forum. I’ll do so in a dignified manner without name-calling or invective.

There is a great divide in this country, nearly evenly split. Commonality of basic principals built this country; let’s hope this divided House can continue to stand.

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deb said on March 2, 2008 at 2:36 pm

yes, willliam, commanlity of basic principles did build this country. so why don’t you get it — that your friend tim violated a whole laundry list of those principles by stealing the work of others, passing it off as his own, and copping to it not out of a sense of decency but simply because he got caught?

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brian stouder said on March 2, 2008 at 2:39 pm

There is a great divide in this country, nearly evenly split. Commonality of basic principals built this country; let’s hope this divided House can continue to stand.

Oh, for Heaven’s sake!

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tensor said on March 2, 2008 at 2:48 pm

“I’ll do so in a dignified manner without name-calling or invective.”

In reality, you’ve executed many ad hominem attacks upon our hostess, for her great ‘crime’ of exposing your friend as the liar and thief he made of himself. Your very first sentence accuses her of “gloating”, your second sentence implies she’s vain, and your third engages in groundless speculation about her thoughts. You even implied she has a mean spirit toward children! Then you pat yourself on the back for not engaging in “invective”. Who is the vanity case here, sir?

Since you seem not to know it, I’ll here quote the first definition of the noun “invective”, taken directly from the on-line Oxford English Dictionary. “A violent attack in words; a denunciatory or railing speech, writing, or expression.” Your repeated personal attacks upon our hostess fit this definition very well, sir.

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William Walters said on March 2, 2008 at 2:54 pm

Deb,

Justice requires Mercy. Either becomes worthless without the other -worse than worthless in fact.

“Mercy without justice is the mother of dissolution” “Justice without mercy is cruelty.”

They are codependent. Calamity results if one is applied without the other.

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tensor said on March 2, 2008 at 3:29 pm

“Justice requires Mercy.”

He stole, he was caught, he was fired. He was not allowed to slink away from his tax-paid job without admitting his crimes, which is what you clearly advocated. That would not have been mercy, it would have been coddling a criminal. Under your version of ‘mercy’ he could still have gone about in public, yammering about morality and decency and responsibility and public trust, without receiving the criticism such whopping hypocrisy should earn. Far more importantly, he could also have continued to steal if he so chose. Our hostess has ensured he will never again commit the crimes which cost him his cushy job. If you’re really worried about your friend’s future, be glad he won’t have to rely on his (clearly defective) judgement any more — at least not in this matter.

Bear in mind that we’re not yet finished with justice. We have laws against theft of intellectual property, and codes of conduct for our government’s officials. As our Administration does not like to see the criminals within it tried, let alone punished, your friend may well not experience whatever punishments our common values might visit upon him. Again, that’s not mercy, it’s coddling a criminal.

Harlos, in the footnote to this post is a link to the Churchill Centre which plainly claims Churchill never said any such thing.

Churchill Centre is hardly omniscient, and as Churchill predated YouTube, that’d be hard for them to prove. Yes, it’s contrary to his own life experience, but I say things that obviously aren’t true for satiric effect, and Churchill frequently did the same thing.

Churchill was apparently mistranslating Aristide Briand at the time, who reportedly said,

The man who is not a socialist at twenty has no heart, but if he is still a socialist at forty he has no head

Briand, the prime minister of France, was apparently inspired by another French statesman, Francois Guizot who said the French equivalent of

Not to be a Republican at twenty is proof of want of heart; to be one at thirty is proof of want of head.

I’d bet that Sam Clemens said it, too, although he would also have munged it to his own tastes, as the above did. If we look hard enough, or wait long enough, Stephen Colbert will come up with some version of it as well.

Please note that Republican meant something different to Guizot in France in the 1700s. In the days of Lincoln, it meant radical reform, in the days of Bob Taft, it meant conservative good government, and apparently folks like Jeff think it should be the party of niggardly theocratic hate-mongers.

“I invite a member of any main stream clergy to weigh in on this issue and bring enlightenment to this entire affair.”

William —

I am, and i did; noting again from comments i made above (the good Lord knows where, now!), if there’s still a pecking at the carcass a week from now (this all happened from Friday mid-morning, he reeled), then it should stop, and if Tim Goeglein gets a job in Washington or Fort Wayne in the next year that involves communications of any sort, there will obviously be another flurry — but the more outrageous statements (however you define them) can’t be held at Nancy Nall’s door. That’s like blaming the mail carrier for the fact that we have to sort our daily delivery over the recycle bin. Folks accustomed to the internet are used to having to mentally cull the comments; it ain’t pretty, but neither is weeding. And some of us pull more than others, but the fact is weeding’s gotta be done.

Nancy has done no gloating, did remarkably little to provoke further action than let her old paper know and post here — the legs this story had were due to the egregious nature of the offense, that snowballed through the day as the interlinked nature of the web unveiled the breadth and comprehensiveness of the acts.

And both as pastor and freelancer myself (said more ways back, scroll up), i think the basics of the story show simple justice since this easily could be framed as felony level theft without too much strain. Since he asked nor received no pay, there won’t be charges, but it’s goons like this who make it darn near impossible to make much income as a freelancer. Add in the national epidemic in high school and college of plagiarism of exactly this sort (again, see my too long comment above), and the response between the paper, Mr. Goeglein, and the White House seems exactly right.

Could this yet be made too much of? Maybe, but i haven’t seen it yet. I have seen — in churches, especially — plenty of casual dismissing of plagiarism, not Obama level borrowing of strophes but wholesale story appropriation down to pronouns, and this is damaging and pernicious on so many levels.

I will repeat from earlier right here — if you’re his friend, work with him to figure out what’s up, because this kind of unnecessary, expansive use of the words of others as your own almost always includes a) other personal problems that help to justify this expedient, and b) resumes proving the offender does, occasionally, have a talent for creative writing.

Then the problems really snowball. I wish him well, have prayed for him already (and doubtless will again), and hope he finds work where he can sort out why he did this. But it is much, much bigger than saying you caught a bigger fish than you did, or saying you graduated from somewhere you just attended.

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firsttimereader said on March 2, 2008 at 3:51 pm

“Justice requires Mercy.”

Interesting. Do these noble sentiments apply to us all or only to old chums of yours? If they did apply to us common folk, your statement presumably means that you oppose mandatory minimum sentencing laws, three strikes and you’re out laws, and zero tolerance policies.

You would do better justice to yourself, your cause, and your friend if you attended to addressing the points made above by Jeff Boatright. You can use the [F3] key, or [Ctrl] + [f] to find his post if you somehow missed it.

No one here understands where you are coming from, and I have to tell you that “communication” is “what you get back” from people, not what you think you are saying. Right now, you are pontificating and ad hominembling, but you are not engaging in actual discussion about the things you’ve made points about.

I fear, that if you continue in this vein, you will remain misunderstood and misunderestimated. Mr. Boatright is addressing the issue of your views versus the views of actual writers (and righters, and lefters). That being, what is moral to you, what is a crime to you, and where/how do you draw your lines? You haven’t made any of that clear thus far.

Additionally, something that you give every indication of not understanding is the fact that plagiarists like Mr. Goeglein cast a shadow over working writers everywhere. The actions of Mr. Goeglein reflect on writers everywhere (we all feel it). He is a monumentally shameful embarrassment to the trust that writers work so diligently to maintain in this country.

Stealing somebody else’s work and passing it off as your own makes the baby Jesus cry.

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William Walters said on March 2, 2008 at 4:23 pm

Mr. Wilson, I used [contl] + [f] to find Mr. Boatright to no avail. Is he using some other name? Assuming that I can find his comments I will attempt to address his points, but I cannot guarantee you that I will bee able to acomplish that today. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. I felt I had reached the end of my say in this forum until I was brought back by the pleadings of Mr. Wilson. I appreciate and acknowledge the importance of your role as an Editor in paying attention to such issues as plagiarism, double-publishing, data falsification, etc. Each of these revolves around the essential importance of truth.

If you read all of my posts you will see not only have I said that; I do not fault Nancy for holding a public servants feet to the fire you will, also, see that I do not condone or defend plagiarism. Quite the contrary. Plagiarism is a form of theft, debating the degrees of which only draws us down a path of relativism upon which everyone here will have different opinions.

There are some facts that have been left unsaid in this forum. No one, including myself, disputes that plagiarism is a transgression. It is particularly egregious in the academic community. It is the use of the ideas and words of another, without their permission, as if they were ones own. It is only natural that academia would be most sensitive to this problem.

Plagiarism, to be best of my knowledge, is not a criminal act. I have run searches of the US Code and the Codes of Virginia, California, Massachusetts and Maryland. I don’t have time to do all fifty states, but given what is described here as a universally recognized “crime” by most of the bloggers, I would assume that if plagiarism had been criminally codified then at least one of these jurisdictions would have done so. They have not. I am not belittling the transgression – simply pointing out that to the best of my knowledge in the United States plagiarism is not a criminal offense. There is, of course, the issue of copyright infringement, but I believe this is a civil matter and is appropriately dealt with at both the state and federal level. Sadly, for the sake of this forum none here claims to be the victim of copyright infringement.

It is your assertion Mr. Boatright, that Mr. Goeglein “is getting off easy.” You vent your frustration within the context of being an Editor in Chief at a scientific journal. I would assume that in the practice of policing plagiarism within your organization that termination of employment would be automatic, and rightly so. What do you do to punish serial plagiarists? Fire them more than once? Do you blacklist them? What is the prescribed punishment for plagiarism? Has a punishment been codified for a transgression, which has not? If so, please direct me to the source. Is there any prescribed uniformity in the action of punishment for this transgression? Or, is it simply a case-by-case, fly by the seat of one’s pants situation when determining the “appropriate” punishment. In the absence of established norms for punishment, how can you, or anyone else, say that a person has “gotten off lightly?”

What you have totally missed in my posts (I will take responsibility for not being “the great communicator”) is that this forum is acting as judge, jury and prosecutor. The railings for “greater justice” are not called for here.

Mr. Goeglein has taken responsibility for his actions. The White House has terminated his employment and, yet, at least one of those directly affected, Mr. Hart from Dartmouth, had this to say; “I told him [Mr. Goeglein] I was flattered he’d used it. It doesn’t damage him in my estimation at all. I’m glad he spread the word.” I think Mr. Hart has displayed generous magnanimity – something totally lacking by the critics of Mr. Goeglein in this forum. Those directly affected have served justice and mercy to Mr. Goeglein. I cannot see why this mob cannot find it within itself to follow suit. Rather it rails over plagerism of material which Nancy finds offensive because Tim “chooses to write awful, turgid essays on the wonders of Hoagy Carmichael, deceased operatic composers and his parents’ marriage.”

Lastly, I would suggest to Nancy and anyone else who wishes to be enforcer of public misdeeds, do so without engaging in “mean spirited fun” but quietly, confidently, and honestly. Do so for the sake of justice and mercy, the public interest and never as a means of vindictiveness, self-serving interests, or a moment in the limelight. Do so for the good of the nation and do so in a self-sacrificing manner.

On this note friends, I’m tuckered out. Good-bye!

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Mia K. said on March 2, 2008 at 6:42 pm

William Walters wrote:
Lastly, I would suggest to Nancy and anyone else who wishes to be enforcer of public misdeeds, do so without engaging in “mean spirited fun” but quietly, confidently, and honestly.

A twist “worthy” of “Karl” “Rove” “himself,” Mr. Walters.

You appear to be just as intellectually bankrupt as your dearest friend Tim Goeglein. Good luck feeding his children and whatnot.

William Walters,
That was a great comment. I think that many of Nancy’s readers are journalists, editors and academics for whom plagiarism strikes a raw nerve. Mr. Goeglein’s suffered enough and I’m sure Nancy and others wish him well.
You note that plagiarism is a particularly egregious offense in the academic community. To that I would add that Mr. Goeglein’s plagiarism is on an order exponentially worse than that. Unlike academics who may plagiarize for personal gain and whose works appeal to esoteric academic audiences, Mr. Goeglein’s works appealed to a whole swath of the public citizenry. The administration for which he worked was seeking to cloak its policies with an aura of respectability to which they are not entitled. See these two posts:http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/060820/28presidency.htmhttp://www.mediatransparency.org/story.php?storyID=57
Moreover, his misdeeds epitomize strangely undemocratic attempts to influence public debate by usurping the role of an independent media. First, independent media outlets are attacked as part of the liberal press. That claim is repeated throughout a network of right-wing pundits. The term echo-chamber has come to signify this strategy by the right wing. Then there’s FOX News. Res ipsa loquitor. Then there’s Clear Channel. And by the way, Bain Capital (Mitt Romney’s firm) was involved in a $10B bid for the over 1000 media outlets of Clear Channel about 2 years ago. Then there was the attempt to change the politics of Public Television by naming a Republican director and threats to its budget. Then there was Colin Powell’s son Michael’s attempts as president of the FCC to allow media market consolidation so that Rupert Murdoch and others could control the public airwaves. And of course, Murdoch’s News Corp. just purchased the Wall Street Journal.
So yes, what Timothy Goeglein did was profoundly wrong. But he was probably just an unwitting fool who was duped into believing the administration and ambitious or arrogant enough to continue taking from the cookie jar.

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Jeff Boatright said on March 2, 2008 at 8:21 pm

Walters, Thanks for the thoughtful reply, but I still do not understand your point.

It should be abundantly clear that Goeglein committed theft over and over and over. He did not take responsibility for his actions, he has merely admitted that he got caught for one transgression. It’s not like he volunteered information about the other 19, as far as I know.

As to your other words, I have not suggested criminal activity by Goeglein. I assume that it goes without saying, but I guess it was a poor assumption on my part, that civil action could result from his malfeasance.

Really, this is pretty straightforward. He stole, he got caught. And I repeat from the previous post, nothing all that awful has happened to your friend yet, and may never. He got caught stealing. Apparently 20 times. He’s paying for it professionally, as he should. He’s also being ridiculed for his hypocrisy. I’d say that’s unavoidable, and with 20+ hits under his belt, also deserved. But that’s just my opinion.

What is your point in all this? That he shouldn’t suffer the consequences of his theft? Because, again as previously posted, so far this has been pretty light fare.

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William Walters said on March 2, 2008 at 8:23 pm

Thank you Del.

I think everyone has suffered enough and since the rest of the world, including main street media, recognizes the need to move on to other issues – I will wisely follow suit.

“We have met the enemy and he is us.” (No plagiarism here, that’s Walt Kelly speaking through various denizens of the Okefenokee Swamp!)

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Willem van Oranje said on March 2, 2008 at 11:04 pm

Writing from the Netherlands (yes, the story is now by definition international!)

Did he write his articles at home? Or at his work? When he was writing his articles from work, then I think he could be in legal trouble as well, wasting taxpayers money by stealing other people’s work and presenting them as it’s own.

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Tulse said on March 2, 2008 at 11:07 pm

Plagiarism, to be best of my knowledge, is not a criminal act.

If he were paid and misrepresented someone else’s work as his own, that would be fraud.

I find it hugely enlightening, albeit depressing, to see how Mr. Walters defends malfeasance on the Right.

Thank you, William Walters. I now have a much better idea of where you are in approaching the various aspects of this incident and the issues it involves. There isn’t any need for us to agree on it all and in every detail, and there is room for other discussions on other days.

Thank you, Jeff Boatright, for condensing the issues down to the very meat on the bones of the foundational issues. Deftly presented.

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Not Fooled said on March 3, 2008 at 12:04 am

I am intrigued by Andrew’s commentary regarding dishonesty. It is unfortunate that Mr. J has never learned to apply his high moral and ethical standards he holds so dear for journalism to the sacred covenant of marriage and the upholding of respect and dignity for womankind. He has a few (more than a few) rotting pinata’s of his own. Come now Andrew, you’re familiar with the ol’ trite, stereotyped expression, “He who lives in a glass house, should never begin throwing stones.” What’s in your pinata?

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Liz Craker said on March 3, 2008 at 12:17 am

So much for the small-town boy making good in the big city. I am so disappointed….and even more so as I find that he lifted entire passges!

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tensor said on March 3, 2008 at 12:34 am

“What is your point in all this? That he shouldn’t suffer the consequences of his theft?”

Bingo. If he’s not getting paid by some right-wing damage-control team, he bloody well should be. His mastery of Rovian tactics is impressive:

First, attack the whistleblower. His first post begins with several ad hominem attacks against our hostess, and in later posts, he moves on to claiming that she shouldn’t have been checking on Mr. G. at all. He makes dark insinuations about her motives, and claims that she has acted out of malice. He actually uses the word “smear” to describe the honest and ethical actions of a person who had discovered wrongdoing. This is a flat-out lie, and also (Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?) a smear itself. (This also includes two other tactics: lie all you want yourself, and accuse your opponents of doing exactly what you are doing.)

Second, argue in the most narrow and legalistic of manners. Mr. Walters spends many words on wondering (not answering; his purpose is to create doubt and to sow confusion where none exist) about a really simple matter. The overall reason this tale has me shaking my head is the familiar one, of a right-wing moralist caught acting in a blatantly immoral manner. Mr. Walters did not address this concern, even though it permeates this comment thread. An entire generation of right-wing political operatives, SUCH AS THE THIEF HIMSELF, using broad sweeps of moral condemnation for political gain, is completely ignored.

Third, contradict yourself if necessary. This helps in sowing chaos, but arises from throwing stuff around to see what sticks. Hence, his claim that a private appeal to the White House would have resulted in the thief losing his job, BUT also that Ms. Nall is at fault for this loss of employment. Mr. Walters insists that he wants a public servant’s feet held to the fire, but then systematically declares off-limits every practical (and ethical) way to do this.

Fourth, attack all other critics. We’re just a like a drunken, bloodthirsty mob, we read, having appropriated prosecutorial powers we do not deserve. Except, of course, that we’re not drinking, aren’t assembled into a group, are not escalating each other’s claims for harm, have not proposed any cruel or unusual punishments, and have no actual power to hurt the thief in any way. Magically, our requests for justice and restitution have become the moral equivalent of bear-baiting, and we should be ashamed for ourselves.

Finally, while not directly Rovian, the repeated appeals to our better nature were truly insulting, especially when mixed with claims that we lack such exalted traits. What “justice” and “mercy” did you show in your ad hominem attacks upon our hostess, and upon us, Mr. Walters? Guess what? Our typing about how much of a liar and a hypocrite your friend of eight years has been FOR THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF YOUR FRIENDSHIP doesn’t really do anything, except hurt your tender eyes. Too bad. Responsibility and accountability still count for something, and some of us will not stop demanding them from our public officials. Even if it means publicly exposing public wrongdoing by public officials you happen to know and like.

Have fun feeding your friend’s family, sir, and don’t forget to count your silverware before and after their visits.

Nancy – great reporting, but I wanted to alert you to my boss, M. Thomas Eisenstadt’s new blog post “In Defense of Plagiarism: Why Tim Goeglin Got Thrown Under the Bus.” Thomas may not agree with everything you’ve said, but I think you’ll find it interesting that the original piece you say Goeglin plagiarized from, may in fact be an act of plagiarism itself.

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Jeff Boatright said on March 3, 2008 at 6:17 am

Suzi,

I do not understand your comment. It has me scratching my head. Are you equating my commentary with the actions of the swiftboaters? I don’t think that I’ve lied about any of Goeglein’s actions, nor have I impugned him with innuendo.

Possibly you (and possibly Walters) think I want to “pile on” Goeglein. I don’t. I don’t wish him ill. I am not advocating that anything be done to him to further punish him. I hope he gets help.

As for Walters’ arguments, I still can’t get my head around them. Possibly tensor’s interpretation is instructive (hadn’t really thought about them from such a dark perspective), but surely not everything is political?

Brian Schmidt Says:
Eli- your boss doesn’t appear to understand what plagiarism is. Either that or the piece is a satire, especially the last sentence.

Truly.

And though Mr. Eisenstadt has had several days now to get familiar with the frequency and sheer volume of Tim Goeglin’s serial plagiarism, he mentions only the one incident as though it were some sort of isolated ‘youthful indiscretion.’

In “defense of plagiarism,” Mr. Eisenstadt chooses to completely disregard the other 19 times Tim Goeglin has pilfered others’ work, which were discovered almost immediately after the first theft was brought to light. Today, March 3rd, how is it possible that Mr. Eisenstadt can be so ill informed of the scope and magnitude of Tim Goeglin’s habitual, repeated plagiarism which he’s attempting to defend and dismiss? Talk about making a molehill out of a mountain!

In considering all of the “defense of plagiarism” and/or plagiarists that’s been shoveled around lately, I suppose I should be thankful that Tim Goeglin hasn’t ‘doused any cats with lighter fluid and set them ablaze,’ though I’m morbidly curious to see how a defense of that sort of thing might be undertaken, if it became necessary.

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Suzi said on March 3, 2008 at 10:19 am

Jeff, sorry for the confusion, I was just being sarcastic. I agree with your respose to Mr. Walters. Swiftboating is/was mean spirited, but your criticism wasn’t.

True to his neo-con roots, Thomas Eisenstadt has no idea that Indiana University is rather liberal. Has he never heard of the Kinsey Report, that conservative Christian document that told us that cheating and gay sex were extremely common? Does he not know that IU’s American Democracy Project is sponsored by the New York Times? Where was he during the anti-Vietnam protests?

Even if Tim plagiarized from another plagiarist, it’s still plagiarism. And I don’t think Ben Stein and the Pope are plagiarists.

>>>Thomas Eisenstadt has no idea that Indiana University is rather liberal. <<<<

And given that he hails from D.C. and Southern Cal, I’m surprised he knew that the News-Sentinel was the lesser of two papers in the area. I was in the news biz for 21 years and I didn’t know that fact offhand.

Eisenstadt: Once a month, he got his name in the second-rate newspaper in a two-paper small town…

NancyNall, in her original post: Why he chooses to do so for the failing paper in a two-newspaper town, one with a circulation that probably barely nudges 30,000 these days, remains a mystery.

Then again, any column titled “In Defense of Plagiarism,” doesn’t deserve a heck of a lot of scrutiny. Especially when the PhD author notes that “Tim cribbed a little on his columns.” Where do you start?

I grew up in Ft. Wayne and Tim Goeglein and I went to Concordia Lutheran High School together. He was pretty much a non-entity to me as I was more involved in the theater and sciences cliques, and he was off in his own clique which was the one composed of the wealthier families.

We were never friends or hung out or…anything.

But the Goeglein’s were pretty much a pre-meme meme back then. Their family was/is heavily involved in church activities and donations (Ft. Wayne IS the City Of Churches as well as heavily Lutheran), and you don’t get anywhere politically or financially in that town unless you attend the chats after services.

The family gave/gives generous funds to Concordia as well, and that school isn’t a cheap one to attend.

Most every Lutheran church wedding reception, class reunion, after-prom in the whole city took/takes place at Goeglein’s (a catering venue), and their services are expanding.

That’s cash money combined with major local religious and political influence since before 1951… a very smart family power grab, and one which many institutions in town are most likely considering one worth forwarding.

Now if a political power needed to gently fan the religious, moral, and financial flames of a specific type of voters in a particular region in order to forward their cause they would obviously gravitate towards someone who fell into that category and succor them in order to use them as an influence propagator.

Whether or not he truly believed in his convictions or saw it as more of a way to forward the small family empire I cannot comment on, but looking at how that small family empire seems to be a tiny mirror of how our current administration does it’s weaselly business… it’s a thing that makes me go “Hmmmm.”

thus the joy and wonder of the internet, and blogs.
to deflate the wind bags, to prick the pompous, to expose the truly stupid. and to break news that the mainstream media wont break. – until the blogosphere ignites into a raging BUSH-fire (giggle.), and the MSM follows up- which is what the so-called 4th estate/5th column is supposed to have been doing all along.
Personally- I am amazed at my growing pleasure of “schadenfreud”, as I grow older.
a german immigrant hoosier josef schreyer- 1880 something said it best “theres 2 parties- democrats, and aristocrats”.
google “aristocrats” and “dirty jokes” wait for it……GIGGLE!

And given that he hails from D.C. and Southern Cal, I’m surprised he knew that the News-Sentinel was the lesser of two papers in the area. I was in the news biz for 21 years and I didn’t know that fact offhand.

Actually, it *wasn’t* the lesser of the two papers, 21 years ago. When I was editing the Waynedale News in the late 1980s, the NS circulation was about 70,000 and the Journal-Gazette (other than Sundays) was about 60,000 – but Allen County was the only county in which the NS beat the JG in circulation.

Farmers in adjoining counties could get the Tuesday JG in Tuesday afternoon’s mail, but if they subscribed to an afternoon newspaper, the Monday afternoon newspaper arrived in Tuesday afternoon’s mail. The TV listings weren’t much good at that point.

My ties to the NS go way back. I had an aunt and uncle who met while both were reporters at the NS – back when Ernie was a reporter, too.